Let's Make A Deal...
by Mitsugi
Summary: AU 1+2+1 Duo exploits a fatal flaw when Relena sells her soul to Shinigami for a chance at Heero's heart. **weird, weird shounen-ai with the tiniest hint of lime** Relena fans won't like me after this...heh heh heh =P Complete!!
1. Shinigami's Solitude

Greetings! Wow, my first posted fic. I'm tingling all over. =*_*= Those of you who know me (yah, there *might* be one or two) will be VERY surprised that this ain't a Wufei fic, *squeezes Wuffie-chan* but gosh Duo's just such a fun guy to write for, I thought I'd give him a try. Gomen if somebuddy already wrote one like this (million-to-one odds) but this is a wacked-out idea I got listening to Shania Twain on the bus. =@_@= You'll figure out which song soon enough, minna.

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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The late afternoon sun danced on the small, seated figure on the sand. After a long day of meditation, inner reflection, and the same old fried fish meal after meal, the boy stretched out on the nameless beach and thought about home for the millionth time. It had been Wufei's idea to go on a 'spiritual journey' or whatever, but it was really jut the perfect excuse to run away. It was Wufei who dragged him out by the braid, kicking and screaming, and it was Wufei who packed him into Deathscythe and told him to go sit somewhere and think about universal truths until his spine hurt and his brain itched. Maybe, on some level, he had seen his friend sinking into depression, or maybe he just wanted him and his slovenly habits out of his apartment.

_Maybe a little of both,_ Duo thought, staring up at the cloud-streaked sky. He wouldn't admit it right away, but he was glad he had been exiled to this lonely beach for some quiet thinking time. It had been so many weeks, he had almost forgotten why he had come so far to get away from home. Almost.

**********  


_"Oh, this is EXACTLY what I needed, thank you SO much!" Duo threw himself on the dorm room sofa, shoving aside textbooks and papers, and buried his face in his hands. "Do you have ANY idea how much that took out of me, to finally say that to you!? My stomach's been in knots ever since I got up, because I told myself it was today or never, and..." The violet-eyed boy was close to tears as he wrenched his head upwards to look at his sullen roommate, who was standing as far to the other side of the room as possible without actually climbing out of the window. "...you can't even stand to look at me, can you, Heero?"_

He couldn't, actually. Heero's stomach was doing acrobatics of it's own, thinking about what had transpired. Duo had just admitted his true feelings for him, and the surplus of information wasn't sitting too well next to the fried shrimp. His friend, the young man he trusted more than anyone else in the world, came to him, shaking and speaking softly of how much that friendship meant to him, stumbling over words, wringing his hands...and then, without warning..."Ai shiteru, Heero." The words bit him and tore at his stoic sensibilities; it couldn't be true. But the God of Death couldn't tell a lie, either. Without so much as the tiniest "Hn." to let Duo know he was still listening, he just slumped against the wall and stared at the street.

A long, uncomfortable silence followed, until Duo couldn't take anymore. Wordlessly, he pushed himself off the sofa and started gathering clothes and books into a duffel bag. "Look, I'll just get out of here, ok? You won't have to worry about me trying anything on you while you're asleep." he muttered, with a bitter half-smirk.

That got Heero's attention more than the sound of rumpled shirts and mismatched socks being thrown angrily into a duffel. Turning away from the window slowly, he looked at his friend with genuine sadness, which would have been a memorable sight had Duo been looking at him long enough to notice. But those cold blue eyes weighed too heavily on him; not half an hour before, they had been among his favourite things to stare at blissfully, but now..."Gomen, Heero...I hope you have better luck with your next roomie."

Duo slung the duffel over his shoulder, picked up a few odds and ends, as much as he could carry, and headed for the door, sweet escape. "I'll send someone for the rest..." He couldn't bear to look up, not after the mistake he had just made.

Heero took a giant step forward and caught Duo's arm, struggling for words. "Duo, I....just.....wait...it's....." he stammered. It really was the best he could do. Duo shook his arm out of Heero's grip. "No, don't bother. Forget it. Just forget I said anything, ok?" he said, almost running for the exit. "See you next mission."

And then he was gone.

Heero stared at the door for a long time. He understood the sentiment, but he couldn't accept it...not just like that.

**********  


Except for the last several weeks camping out on the burnished sands of God-knows-where, Duo had been sleeping on Wufei's sofa since that night. The time away HAD been good for him; when the time came, he would be going home a much more powerful person than when he left. Had Wufei known what Duo would get up to all by himself with no human soul to talk to, he probably would have thought better of the idea.

He arrived in the middle of nowhere angry, hurt, despondent, humiliated; the floor had dropped out of his whole world when Heero refused his advances. On the first night, he crawled out of Deathscythe and paced up and down the beach, angrier at himself than anyone else, kicking sand and thinking about how far he could swim until his strength gave out and the waves engulfed him. On the second night, he was upset at Heero. Why did he have to be so damn stoic all the time? One kind word or tender glance from Heero before having to pour out his soul to him would have been all that was necessary to make Duo feel wanted instead of stupid and useless, so obviously, this was all Heero's fault. By the third night, it was nobody's fault, it just happened.

After the guilt and tensions had been burned away by the unforgiving sun, he walked up and down the beach, solely in his possession, examining it for anything interesting to take his mind off his troubles. Palm trees and scrub brush dotted the landscape. Nothing particularly spectacular; Deathscythe was easily the most interesting thing around for miles. Was it an island? The edge of a desert? He had no way of knowing; Wufei programmed the location directly into his navigational systems, along with explicit instructions not to reveal the name of the place, even when it was time to leave. Something about removing all distractions, including one's sense of placement in the universe...something like that. Duo had a predisposition to stop listening to Wu-Man after he'd been blathering on for anything more than fifteen minutes.

**********  


Weeks followed. There had always been something unnerving about total solitude, and now he understood what it was...there was no one around but the part of him he tried to forget was there, except in battle. Duo ate sparsely and slept even less, as each day he turned more and more of himself over to that silent force. The absence of everything he usually turned to for distraction pushed him into a corner and dragged his soul under, piece by piece.

_Is this what Wufei wanted me to feel?_

Slowly, he began to consciously ignore thoughts of Heero, and his reasons for leaving him. This must have been the true quiet he was sent to find; it wasn't cold and hideous like he thought it would be. It still frightened him, but he liked it. Rare, precious, terrifying and wonderful, there was nothing to intrude on the utter blackness his soul had retreated to. All was quiet.

And Shinigami spoke to him.

It gave him thoughts without words, songs without sound, an endless stream of comfort and peace. Then it gave him knowledge, ageless knowledge that he had never been ready, or perhaps willing, to receive until that very moment. He squinted and cried out at the effort of taking in so much information all at once. Cradling his head against the sharp sensations he thought would tear his mind to ribbons, he sat nearly motionless on the beach, all night. The world was turned inside out and funnelled through his weak human brain like paper tape through a calculator, and the teacher would not be calmed until the merciful sun frightened it back into the recesses of Duo's subconscious.

Gasping for breath, he collapsed on his back in the cold sand, tears of exertion tumbling down the sides of his face. He was fairly sure this wasn't what Wufei had in mind. He was definitely sure that it was almost time to go home.

  
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So what's Duo up to, anyway? =^_~= 


	2. A Deal With the Devil

Hello, readers! My writing is done, now it's just a matter of adding the HTML...more chapters will fly up into place very soon! =^_^=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Relena stopped just outside Heero's door and drew a slow breath. Girls weren't allowed in this dorm, as a rule, so she was thankful to have made it this far without being escorted out. Even former queens should be allowed to bend the rules now and again. 

She knocked. "Heero?" No response.

Opening the door a few inches, she peeked inside and spotted him, eyes glued to his laptop. "Heero..." she sang, "I brought you your dinner!" Relena took his lack of movement as an invitation to sit down and have a chat over cafeteria food.

Balancing two trays on her arms, she nudged open the door with her foot, walked over to the dresser and set down the food. She closed the door and sat down on Heero's bed, looking at him as if he would suddenly get up and start juggling knives any second. He did a good job of ignoring her for the better part of ten minutes until she spoke up.

"Come on, now, this is getting cold! I don't want to eat by myself!" Relena picked up her tray and smiled at him, an innocent, sickly sweet smile that made Heero lose what little appetite he had. He moved the laptop to one side of the desk, with resignation, and collected his own tray, gambling that if he cleaned his plate, she would leave him alone.

Satisfied and quite proud of herself, Relena began nibbling at her macaroni and cheese, and looking around the room. "Duo's not back yet, is he?" she asked out of politeness. She really had no idea why Duo had picked up and disappeared in the middle of the term. She got the impression that the two of them had a fight, but had no idea what it was about. "Well, I'm sure he'll make up for the time he missed sooner or later. I honestly don't know how he manages, with his study habits. Probably some of your better habits are rubbing off on him."

Heero looked up from his only partially-identifiable cafeteria fare. Something told him she meant that as a compliment towards him, but he wished she had phrased it differently. "Hn."

The dinner conversation wasn't much more interesting than that, but Relena saw it all as a rare treat. When she was forced to look at her life and see how much she really had to live for, Heero was coincidentally at the top of the list. She treasured the few minutes here and there that she was able to spend with him, their schedules being such that it wasn't very often they were both free at the same time. Duo's absence had caused her to make a special effort to be there for Heero, deciding that he needed company and a sympathetic ear, not that he made use of either. But still, she persisted.

After dinner, Heero went straight back to his laptop. Relena waited for another half hour, trying to stir the dying verbal embers into a dialogue, unsuccessfully. Saddened, she got up and stood behind him, looking over his shoulder at the screen._ You never have so much time for me as for that thing, do you?,_ she thought. Sighing, she let her mind wander, skipping over fantasies of being together, and happy, they way she hoped they both wanted. Absentmindedly, she let her hands find their way to his shoulders.

Heero snapped to attention. Some reckless daredevil had laid hands upon his person. _Omae o korosu._ He slowly turned to look at Relena, face already fixed in a Deathglare, but the sight of her hurt face brought him the tiniest pang of guilt, just enough to look away, pick up his tray and hand it to her with a normal, rather blank expression. "Arigato."

Relena still looked hurt, but took the tray anyway. At least he spoke.

She left him to his precious computer and walked back to her own dorm the way she came, via the kitchens.

**********  


Two months after running away from everything he thought he loved, a slim figure in black stepped back onto the campus lawn and eyed the buildings with a new perspective. _ I know it's all exactly the same as I left it, but..._ Duo ran a cool eye over the objects and people in his field of vision, mentally applying what he had learned on the beach. _If I concentrate, I can see the molecular structure of everything here. _ He laid a hand on the bark of a tree and studied the branches overhead. _ What could I turn this into, if I was bored out of my skull? A hot dog stand? A shiny new BMW? Nah, not enough material for that...and too many moving parts to be bothered with. _ He shifted his gaze to the grass directly below the branches. _Not to mention half of the darn thing would be underground._

He thought about going straight to see Heero, but shattered the idea almost immediately. Instead, he meandered across the grounds, looking at this person, and that person, thinking. Any one of them could be susceptible to his new-found powers now. He could make that one think he's a chicken, or make this one think she's falling off a cliff. Oh, the possibilities.

His eyes met those of a delectable young sophomore, and he gave the blond boy a classic Maxwell smirk. The youth smiled back briefly, then continued walking past Duo. The moment he was closest, Duo tugged at his mind hard enough to make him stop and whirl around, looking for the invisible hand that had just reached out and taken a chunk out of his consciousness. Duo grinned at him. "Someone just walked on your grave." he quipped. The boy looked confused, startled, and slightly afraid all at once. He left without saying anything.

Duo had to hold himself back to keep from laughing out loud. It was true! It really was true! The tiny victory made him want to experiment more, but just at that moment, a familiar voice snapped him back to reality.

"Duo! Over here!"

Scanning the grounds, he saw a pale girl in a light blue cardigan waving to him. Relena. Forgetting his experiment for the moment, he walked over to her out of sheer politeness.

Relena ran up to meet Duo and hugged him. He shrank away slightly, but she didn't seem to notice. "I'm so glad you're back! Things...haven't been well." They sat down at a picnic table, far away from distraction.

"What's up?" Duo asked, fully expecting a status report on enemy movements along the frontline, something like that.

Relena lowered her gaze. "It's Heero."

_Great, just what I needed, _Duo thought helplessly. _Just when I train myself not to think about the guy..._"Oh yeah? What's wrong with him, besides the usual?"

"He won't talk to me," she answered, "and I know what you're going to say, he doesn't talk to anyone. But this is...different. I've been thinking about him a lot, thinking we might actually have a...future together. D'you know what I mean?" she asked, not really expecting him to fully understand.

But he did understand. "Yeah, I guess so." He shrugged it off. _Dammit, I didn't need to hear that from you._

Relena relaxed a bit, truly finding comfort in talking to Heero's closest friend. She went on for quite awhile about how she felt about him, how she wished he would throw her just some tiny scrap of affection. _ Like lookin' in a mirror, ain't it? _Duo thought to himself.

And then, looking at her troubled face, as her lips moved constantly, uttering sounds he no longer bothered hearing, he had an absolutely wicked idea. They really had more in common than Duo had originally thought when he met the girl; much, much more. His lips curled into a fiendish grin, and when Relena stopped talking long enough to notice, she gasped audibly, nearly jumping off the bench.

"Duo....wh-what...." she stammered.

The grin remained. "How badly do you want Heero?" he asked. "What would you give to be with him?"

"Give?" The girl looked puzzled, and seemed to pale even more in the mid-day sun. "I...I don't understand...but..." She sank her chin into her chest in resignation, fighting back tears. "I would sell my soul."

Duo's eyes widened. _Yes! _ Honestly, he had no interest in her soul, but for his purposes, the container it came in would do nicely. Trying to look the part of the comforting friend, he picked her tiny hands up out of her lap and clutched them gently. "I think," he purred, "I may be able to help you with that."

**********  


Duo had a hard time finding someplace on campus that was secluded enough that they wouldn't be seen, but not so restricted that they'd be hauled off by the scruffs of their necks if they were caught there. After much deliberation and dragging Relena up and down the halls by the arm, he decided on one of the group study rooms in the library. There was room for half a dozen people, seated, and a thick metal door designed to keep the noise out. He was betting that it would keep noise in just as well. Shuffling around in a cabinet on the north wall, he took out a few sheets of paper and taped them over the little window in the door, making it impossible to see out or in. By this time, Relena was more than a little nervous, but politeness kept her from questioning these strange actions.

All the while, Duo kept waiting for Shinigami to hold him back and tell him that what he had in mind for himself and the girl in front of him was totally wrong, but no objection came. He leaned against the conference table with his arms folded and his legs casually crossed at the ankles.

"You'd really sell your soul to be with Heero?" He raised an eyebrow at Relena, making it more of an observation than a question.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, sounding genuinely worried now.

He raised a hand to stop her. "Lemmie ask you something. If I told you I could do something that would permanently change the way Heero looked at you, the way he spoke to you, everything...and that all you had to do was hold tight and trust me for awhile...would you do it?" That wasn't entirely correct; it wasn't all she had to do, but Duo was working on a need-to-know basis, and giving out too much information at this stage could sour the deal.

Relena looked frightened, then sad, then slowly nodded, never taking her eyes off him. It wasn't written in stone, or even a verbal agreement, but it was close enough. Duo took a step forward, rubbing his hands together slowly, brows knit in deep concentration. He raised his hands toward her face, and she actually backed up against the wall, startled.

"Calm down, will ya!?" he snapped.

"I-I'm sorry..." Her fear suddenly became overshadowed by her curiosity, and she stood quite still. Duo stood toe-to-toe with her and placed his hands gently around the sides and back of her neck, pushing her chin up so he could look her straight in the eyes. Relena lost herself in those deep, violet pools, unaware of anything except a growing sound in the back of her mind, inching closer...the sound of someone speaking in low, muted tones. After only a few moments, she realized it was Duo's voice, but his mouth wasn't moving. _Sounds like Latin,_ she thought for a moment, but she knew it wasn't.

Dark purple tendrils began to creep into the edges of her vision, as she felt herself sinking...her eyes narrowed as if in pain, pleading against Duo's hypnotic glare. Whatever it was he was doing, she wanted him to stop, but she couldn't force any sound from her own throat. Her arms and legs went numb, her head began to pound, and she could no longer see the room she was in, or anything at all except his eyes. She was suddenly aware of him mouthing strange, alien words, in perfect time with the ghostly voice flooding her mind...growing louder...

Duo suddenly jerked her head forward and crushed his lips to hers. She let out a faint whimper before losing all muscle tone, collapsing against him. A great vortex opened in her mind pulling her away from what she recognized as herself, squeezing and twisting her spirit into a shape it was never meant to fill. Thunder and lightning streamed in from all sides, as well as from within. As the clouds settled and the horrendous din around her faded, she felt pressure against her arms...at least she could feel her arms again. They were lifting something heavy off the ground, something faintly warm, but she couldn't pry her eyes open to look at it. Giving in to fatigue, she crumpled to the floor; there was a harsh ringing in her ears and every nerve in her body felt as if it was on fire. She lay there, shivering in agony, for a long time.

Lying next to her on the dull, flat carpet, was Duo. His entire being was screaming against what he had just put himself through; the experience had been similar for him, but at least he understood it. If he could feel his face, he would have smiled.

  
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What did Shinigami teach this guy? =@_@= 


	3. Halloween Comes Early

Greetings! Stick with me, minna, the rest of the chapters should appear within a few hours! =^_^=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Hours might have passed before the pair came to their senses. The absence of any clocks in the study room made it impossible to tell, and their internal clocks were certainly well off-kilter.

Relena came to slowly, with more than a slight headache. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and stopped. Something wasn't quite right...her blue cardigan was gone. So was the off-white blouse she had been wearing underneath it. In it's place was what looked like a rumpled black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. What kind of sick joke was this? Did Duo undress her while she was unconscious and...no, that was absurd.

Wincing against the pain, her hand flew to her forehead. She felt her bangs falling all over the place. _ My hair's a mess now. _ Running shaky fingers through her bangs to smooth them out, her hand stopped at the base of her neck where the hair seemed to be tangled. She ran a hand down her tresses--they were in a braid. Sitting up quickly, she pulled her hair over her shoulder and looked at it. A long, thick, chestnut brown braid.

Frantic, she stumbled to her feet and looked around the room, her horrified eyes landing on the only other person there...herself. Leaning back in a chair, with both feet kicked up on the table, was the body of Relena Peacecraft, smirking. Relena looked down at herself and saw a thin, boyish body clad in the usual black outfit Duo always wore.

She looked up, trembling. "...what did you DO to me??" she cried. The sound of Duo's voice coming from her own mouth startled her even more, and she leaned heavily on the table to stop herself from falling over in shock.

Duo smiled sweetly at her, twirling one of her honey-blonde locks of hair around his finger. "Relax, 'Lena, it's all part of the plan. Didn't I say you had to trust me?" He got up and walked over to her. He didn't seem as disconcerted as she was, at seeing himself across the table. Putting an arm around her...or rather, his own shaking shoulders, he leaned close to her ear and whispered comfortingly. "It's alright, it's not permanent. You'll get used to it in a little while, ok?"

_I don't WANT to get USED to it!! _she wanted to shout, but her stomach was turning over and over so badly, she thought she might upchuck if she opened her mouth to speak.

"Why don't we get a coffee or something, huh? Give your nerves a chance to settle," Duo said cheerily, picking up Relena's purse and slinging it over his shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Relena nodded numbly, just wanting to get out of that room. Taking her arm, he tore the paper off the window and opened the door, stepping out into a perfectly normal and quiet library, eerily unaware that anything paranormal had just taken place within it's walls. They made a painfully slow trip to the coffee house in the lobby. Duo bought the coffee, with the money in Relena's purse, smiling at the way the server called him "Miss" when she announced the total.

No one looked at them strangely at all, convincing him that the transference had been absolutely seamless. What a ridiculous thing it was...Duo in Relena's body, and Relena in Duo's body. He held back a laugh every time he thought about it. Taking cautious sips from his coffee, he tried to reassure her that this was totally necessary to change Heero's behaviour.

"See, what you need," he began, "is someone to make him realize what he's been missing all this time. Someone to show him, y'know...what you're really like when you're not queen of the universe. That sort of thing." He saw no immediate reaction from her. The violet eyes were staring blankly forward, the coffee was untouched. "And maybe, after awhile, he'll get to appreciate the real you. But first we gotta get his attention, and let's face it, unless you're giving a speech about world peace, you're not that fascinating to be around." He regretted those words slightly, as soon as they were spoken, but he believed it was true. Relena had a tendency to be a drab little fluffy teddy bear, who was either clingy and suffocating, or stiff and starchy, depending on the situation.

"So you're going to get Heero's attention for me." she said, after a long, uncomfortable silence.

Duo paused, thinking. "Yeah....yeah, I guess I am." She didn't need to know why or how, he just promised her that after spending some time in her body, Heero would be looking at her in an entirely new light.

**********  


The clock in the coffee house indicated that the whole strange affair took less than an hour, although it felt more like a day and a half, with a few stiff drinks apiece thrown in for effect. Once Relena's stomach had settled down, they traded class schedules and locker combinations, so they could continue on as "normal" without drawing suspicion. Duo even warned her about the biology professor that hated him with such a passion that he was in danger of failing, joking that spending a few days in his body, she might be able to bring his average up.

Having missed pretty much the entire afternoon's classes anyway, they called it a day, and agreed that to avoid putting Wufei's highly spiritual nerves on edge, they should both stay in Relena's room. Straws would be drawn to decide who would collect Duo's things from the other dorm. A comical argument ensued over which of them should sleep on the sofa, but in the end, Duo insisted on taking it himself. Relena practically fell on the bed and was asleep almost instantly. Duo looked down at his sleeping self, and the reality of what he had achieved hit him for the first time. Among the myriad of things Shinigami had taught him, there was the ability to swap the souls of two mortal bodies. At the time, he couldn't think of a practical application for it, but still, he thought, there was almost nothing practical about this.

3:45. Heero would be getting out of his last class and going to his extra-credit advanced computer programming session, which he really didn't need, and only signed up for so he could hack the school's systems from a different terminal every day. Kept things interesting.

Duo looked through Relena's closet for something less...less..._This has got to be the most boring..._Nothing she had looked as if it would set Heero on fire, or even make his little finger slightly toasty. Still carrying her purse, he slipped out and locked the door behind him. Calculating how much time he probably had until Heero went home for dinner, he dashed out to the bus for a last-minute shopping trip.

On the way to the mall, looking at Relena's reflection in the window, guilt began giving him short slaps to the face. He admitted to himself the real reason why he had switched bodies with her--he was going to seduce Heero. Somehow it didn't matter anymore if Heero didn't recognize him, if he really believed he was holding Relena, so long as Duo was the one to experience it, not her. It had been the most obvious reason for Heero's refusal; he was straight. He must be. Neither of them could help that. How it was all going to feel in the body of a woman was something he hadn't had time to contemplate...

He flew through the stores with a typically male attitude towards shopping for clothes: get the job done, then get the heck out of there. A few swipes of Relena's credit card later, he was carrying her drab, frumpy outfit in a shopping bag, and wearing the latest couture from the designers at Maison Maxwell. He studied the effect in the full-length mirror of a very classy shop.

A rayon skirt, navy with lilies printed on it, ending just above the knee...a clingy rose-coloured top with a sweetheart neckline...matching hose and blue flat shoes (he wasn't ready to risk his neck with heels quite yet), and little pearl earrings. He hated every last bit of it. But the sales lady kept insisting it looked SO good on "madam"...who was he to argue? He would wear the ghastly concoction on one condition: he had to fix something that didn't look quite right.

Handing his parcels over to the attendant, he swiftly gathered up Relena's soft golden tresses and weaved them deftly into a braid. A new attendant, younger than the first, was at his side in a flash with a hair scrunchie the exact same colour at the clingy top. Duo looked at it oddly, then took it. Snapping it in place, he swung his new ornament back and forth behind him like a pendulum, finally pleased with the overall effect.

His last stop was the drug store; wandering up and down the aisles, he told himself he really didn't want to see what he was looking for. Stopping next to the pertinent section, he pretended to be looking at the rack of cough drops, throwing furtive sideways glances at the goods for sale a few inches to the left. He really didn't wish Relena any serious harm, and he certainly didn't relish the thought of little tiny Heeros and Relenas running around nine months from now, but he couldn't bring himself to look at what was offered. He could feel himself breaking into a cold sweat every time another customer walked by. Instantly formulating "Plan B", he left the aisles and walked to the back of the store, to the pharmaceuticals dispensary. His fingers and toes went numb as he felt his mouth opening and heard Relena's timid voice ask for a package of little white pills, which was handed over promptly by the kindly old pharmacist, wearing a tender, fatherly smile. Duo paid in cash; if this showed up on Relena's monthly credit card statement, he was gonna die.

All the way back to campus, a little voice was pestering him, shouting that this was about to be, bar none, the most despicable thing he has ever done to a friend. Two friends. Duo told the little voice to shut the hell up.

**********  


The advanced computer programming professor kept one eye on Heero Yuy as always, and as always, he was unable to catch him doing anything suspect on the school terminals. It was quite exasperating to know in his gut that his prize student was wandering around all kinds of electronic restricted areas, but he could prove nothing. Heero was that good. Whatever tensions arose between them in class, the gray-haired professor couldn't help but be humbled by his very presence.

Another uneventful class went by, and the professor had to let Heero leave peacefully once again, for lack of evidence. The Perfect Soldier picked up his books and walked out, as coldly emotionless as when he had walked in. Today, however, there was an unusual surprise waiting just outside the computer lab door.

"Heero..." a sweet voice sang.

Anyone who had studied Heero since childhood would clearly see that he was startled by this; the average person wouldn't notice much of a difference. He turned quite calmly to see...what appeared to be Relena, but dressed...differently.

He looked at her for a long time, taking in the apparent changes, the clothes, the braid, the smirk...he offhandedly wondered if she had been drinking on campus, which was against the rules. Remembering the rule she kept breaking over and over to bring him food, he thought perhaps she wasn't pure as the driven snow after all. "Hn."

_How original,_ Duo thought. Instantly, his arm was around Heero's waist, steering him down the hall towards the dorm. "Surprised to see me?"

"Not really," Heero said, flatly. "I know you're always around."

Duo laughed. It sounded nice in Relena's voice. _If she wasn't such a cold fish around the people she loved, he thought, she could be a real live wire. All she really needs is to let go once in a while..._

Spontaneity took over, and they walked the long route back to the dorm. Heero's class finished at 5:00. By 8:30 they still hadn't found their way back. They meandered around the campus, stopping to look at nearly everything; a pond with ducks in it, a street vendor selling ice cream, a group of students cramming for a sociology final, and a game of girls-on-boys basketball, loser buys dinner. All the while, they talked. REALLY talked, like best friends should. Quite often, Duo would almost catch himself doing or saying something that might make Heero suspicious. Above all else, the guise of Relena had to be upheld, or the whole plan would fall apart. Thankfully, Heero seemed to be buying it; not once during the evening did he accuse Duo of stealing Relena's body for immoral purposes. But then, it wasn't the sort of thing you'd expect, even on his worst day.

It wasn't until well after eleven that they found themselves at the dorm entrance. Heero paused, as if waiting for something. Duo puzzled over why they didn't just go right in, and then it dawned on him, girls weren't allowed here after a certain time...for the life of him he couldn't remember what time that was, but the way Heero stood there made him think it was already long past.

"I've got to be up early tomorrow," Heero said cautiously.

"Oh." A disappointing end to a perfect evening. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." He had no idea which of the odd couple would be seeing him tomorrow, himself or Relena, but it sounded like a reasonable thing to say.

Heero didn't move for another moment or two; Duo wondered if there was anything else he forgot to say that people normally say when saying good night...of course, "good night" itself was the obvious choice. Then the daring part of him theorized that Heero was actually standing there being a gentleman, and hadn't necessarily seized up and frozen in place. Duo crept forward and put a hand on Heero's shoulder. _Oh geez...my legs are going numb..._Holding his breath, he leaned forward and kissed Heero on the cheek, gently. Standing back, he exhaled shakily. "Good night," he whispered.

Heero's expression was surprisingly docile. "Oyasuminasai," he replied. Turning on his heel, he retreated to the inner recesses of the dormitory, none the wiser.

Duo leaned back against the brick wall, trembling all over. I did it...it wasn't much, but I did it... Waves of exhilaration carried him back to Relena's room on a cloud. 

  
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Waiii! Did I confuse anybody royally? =@_@= hehehe 


	4. Hostile Intentions

I've never uploaded so many chapters at once! If I screw this up, I'm gonna freak. =*_*= 

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Relena woke the next morning with a foul taste in her mouth. Black coffee and surrealism, with two sugars. Silently cursing her alarm clock, she propped herself up against the luxuriant pillows and rubbed her tired eyes. She vaguely remembered the door opening, shutting, and locking itself around 11:30 last night, but that was pretty much it. Was that before or after the horrible nightmare?

Groggily, she stood and stumbled to the bathroom. Splashing some cold water on her face, she tried to recall just what it was that had put her so thoroughly under the night before. Looking up at the mirror, she let out a sharp scream as it all came back to her--the face of Duo Maxwell was there instead of her own. It wasn't a dream.

Her scream partially woke the Relena-shaped lump on the sofa, also groggy and insensible. Duo sat up and hollered, "Keep it down in there! Cripes, can't a guy get some--" He paused when he realized the sheer idiocy of that remark. Despite having had pretty much the same night, he was a bit quicker on the uptake this morning.

He found Relena crumpled on the floor of the bathroom, leaning against the bathtub, sobbing. It turned Duo's stomach to see himself cry; it just wasn't natural. He sat next to her and tried to think of something remotely comforting to say.

"Hey...c'mon, quit it." He hesitantly put an arm around her. "It's not all bad, think about it! I'm the one doing all the hard work here, you get to be me! Yay me!" Relena seemed unimpressed, and continued to whimper. "My life is great, y'know, I have more fun than one person can handle...you gotta pick up the slack for me, ok?" He grinned.

Relena lifted her head at last, pathetic tear-stained face looking plaintively at Duo. "I want to go back." she choked.

"Ah....well," Duo started, "I haven't exactly, uh...finished what I was going to do to help you. I need a little more time."

"You had all yesterday afternoon! Didn't you see Heero after his last class?"

"Uh....no, I must've missed him." A filthy, rotten lie. So much for his reputation for absolute truthfulness, but these were harsh circumstances. "I'll catch up with him today, alright?"

"What are you going to tell him? I still don't understand what you think you can accomplish that I couldn't...I mean, I know you're his friend and all, but..." she sputtered, grabbing a Kleenex and blowing her sore nose.

"Just leave it with me, I'll knock some sense into him." he said, standing and pulling Relena to her feet. "Now...just sit tight. Go to class. Forget all about it for a few hours. Alright?"

"......alright." she sniffed.

Relena dutifully went to all of Duo's classes for him, and took the best lecture notes he would ever have. Duo sat in Relena's first class for about twenty minutes, got bored, faked excruciating cramps to get out, and skipped the rest of the day. Even after breakfast, he still felt weak and tired, and after some thought, decided it must be due to Relena's lack of any decent muscle tone. This would never do. He spent the time between breakfast and lunch at the campus track running laps in Relena's gym shorts. After only 400 metres, he thought he was going to fall over; the girl had been keeping herself in a deplorable condition, but then what was one to expect of someone who was waited on hand and foot most of her life?

He tried her body out on every apparatus he could; weights, rings, hurdles, anything available. Then he goaded a few other girl students into some martial arts sparring; they had never spoken to Relena before, and always assumed that she thought she was too good for them, so they relished the opportunity to show her up at something. Pity for them, because Duo's instincts and knowledge won out despite Relena's sorry conditioning, and after a few throws, every one of the girls retreated to the locker room, defeated. That felt better.

Duo gobbled down the kind of lunch Relena wouldn't have touched for all the tea in China, thinking about how to spend the rest of his early Halloween. For most of the morning, he had totally forgotten about Heero, and was simply enjoying pulling the wool over the entire school's eyes. After lunch, he sauntered up and down the halls, trying to draw attention with that swishy, navy blue skirt. He liked the way the boys were looking at him now, hungry and lustful; _If only Heero would..._

His reverie was snapped apart by a gruff voice to his left. "Hey, babe, whatcha doin' after you finish dancin' at the Euphoria?" A group of male students were gawking and hollering; the one who spoke was the ringleader.

Duo knew the Euphoria, though not from personal experience. It was a club downtown, from what he had gleaned off his classmates. It was a strip club. Not funny.

He stopped, turned, and gave the brute his very best Deathglare. Heero would have been proud, because most of the boys saw the look and backed away. All except the lead brute. "What'sa matter, honey? Ain't got nobody to take ya?" He took two steps forward, two more than he should have. "I know where it is, so tell you what, I'll give you a lift. I'm sure you can fine SOME way to repay me..." The innuendo was bad enough, but the smirk pushed Duo over the edge.

With a savage roar, he leapt on the beast and cracked him hard in the neck with a knife hand, followed by a snap kick to the belly and a palm fist to the chin. The blows weren't as fierce as they would have been had he been back in his own body, and he regretted that, because the tall, muscle-bound boy just shook them off and grabbed him by the arm. "Why you little..." He slammed Duo against a wall of lockers and started groping him. Where the hell were all the teachers when you actually needed them!?

He turned his head away from the beast's foul breath and leering eyes. Some of the boy's churlish friends had returned to cheer him on. On the edge of his vision, he saw a thin figure in white trying to tear apart the growing pack of howling wolves. He didn't bother to wait for the figure to pull them away one at a time, there were too many of them now; if he was going to get out of this, it was up to him...and his secret weapon.

Shinigami gave him strength. He flung his attacker off him and into the opposite wall. The students formed a circle around the pair, as the brute staggered to his feet, angrier than ever at this impudent little wench. Duo assumed a fighting stance and waited for the boy to make his first move.

He didn't have long to wait. The beast lunged at him, and Duo effortlessly threw him into the near wall. Undaunted, his assault continued, fuelled by the cheers of his cohorts. Swinging at the tiny "girl" with both fists, he was pummelled by hands moving faster than he could see. Duo landed blow after blow with perfect rhythm. He heard nothing but the air being cut by his movements; he didn't feel his own body moving, or Relena's, he simply felt fluid motion. The crowd took a giant step back, at once, to avoid getting too close to the karate maniac in a short skirt. Dozens of blows and kicks sent the beast reeling, until he finally toppled, bleeding from the face and fearing for his life more than his image. He escaped, half crawling, half running, just as a burly math professor from down the hall began shouting at the crowd to get to their classes.

Duo straightened his skirt and readjusted Relena's purse strap, vindicated. The professor took one look at him, braid still neat and tidy, decided that it must just have been two students fighting over "her", and went back to his room once the crowd had cleared. Duo looked all the other boys in the eye as they were leaving, challenging them silently. None accepted.

When the hall was emptied of all but a few stragglers innocently on their way to one place or another, one person remained besides the karate maniac. The figure in white that had tried to break through the human wall, and then stopped suddenly. He had stood back and watched the fight, not moving from his spot even when the others were sent back to class. Duo looked at the figure in white and froze. It was Wufei.

_ Shit._

They looked at each other for awhile; Wufei looked badly in need of some rice wine after witnessing the delicate Relena Peacecraft take out the football team's prize halfback with about two ounces of effort. He turned, still keeping an eye on "her", and finally left without a word.

Duo stood there for a long time, starting at the space Wufei had occupied. _He couldn't possibly...no, no way. If he knew, he would have said something. For all he knows, Relena's been taking defence classes....yeah, that's it._ He exhaled sharply, and continued on his way, shaky but relieved.

  
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=O_o= The plot thickens... 


	5. Equilibrium

Getting confused yet? =^_~=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Despite the rotten way the afternoon ended, Duo had enjoyed the attention he received; the good attention, anyway. But as he walked back to the girls' dorm he ignored the stares and raised eyebrows from the boys; if it wasn't from Heero, it wasn't good enough by a long shot. Ah yes, he was supposed to be looking for Heero. He walked briskly towards Heero's mid-afternoon class, hoping to catch him before he went to the computer lab.

Behind him, he heard the faint pounding of running shoes on the terrazzo flooring. Had that disgusting bully come back for a rematch?_ Suicidal freak, _Duo thought, as the footsteps grew closer. _I won't antagonize him, I'll just keep on walking. Probably did enough damage to Relena's reputation for one day. If I can just make it to the end of the hall..._

The footsteps caught up to him faster than he expected. The running man skidded in front of him, but it wasn't the cheeky halfback. Duo didn't have to go looking for Heero anymore, Heero had somehow found HIM.

A slight pause followed as Heero caught his breath. "I need Duo," he said calmly, "we have a mission."

Duo would give himself many mental kicks in the head for what he thought next._ Find him yourself, jerk!_ "Um...I think I know where he is," he said, trying to act shy and innocent. "Would you like me to find him for you?"

"Hai." Heero ran down the hall, presumably to collect the rest of the team. Duo watched him run until he vanished through the double doors. Damn, that spandex was sexy.

He snapped out of it quickly. Halloween was over for now; there was work to be done. Forgetting the skirt and prim shoes, he ran to Relena's room and flung open the door, only to find it empty. Shoot, of course, she was in his physics class! He tore down the halls to the science wing, slipping and sliding on the flat soles of his shoes. A knock on the classroom door halted the lecture and brought a shy student to his feet to answer it, the one sitting closest. The door opened, and a mousy face with glasses peeked out.

"I need to see Re--Duo Maxwell, please. It's important." he told the spectacled mouse, wringing his hands.

"Just a sec," the mouse replied. The tiny face disappeared, spoke in hushed tones to the professor, and re-emerged a moment or two later. Duo remembered this kid; nervous, uptight, antisocial, and a bit of a bootlick. Not the sort of person he usually associated with, which was why the poor mouse had to ask teacher if Mr. Maxwell was present or absent. "No, sorry, he isn't here."

_Would it be going to far to pilot Deathscythe in this condition? Yes, yes it would. _There were no other options available, he had to find Relena. "Thank you anyway," he said, exasperated. With that, he started running in no particular direction, really having no idea where she could have wandered off to. He didn't know any of her girl friends on campus, not that she'd let them see her in her present state anyway. He checked the coffee house at the library entrance, every floor of the library itself, and the entire route between the library and her dorm room without success. Duo was starting to panic. What if she cracked and ran away? What if she ran into Heero and told him the whole story? What if the stress of the transference finally caught up with her and she passed out somewhere?

The last thought struck the right chord. She HAD been feeling miserable this morning, maybe she'd gotten worse. Asking directions along the way, he ran to the nurse's office and barrelled through the door. A sorry bunch of school casualties looked up at him like he'd just dropped a huge tray of silverware in the middle of the room. By the way they clutched their heads and yelped, he deduced that he must have missed some party last night. Two-thirds of those seated were clearly hangover patients.

With a sigh of relief, he spotted Relena sitting closest to the nurse's wicket, holding her stomach. Sitting next to her was the disgusting creep he'd given a beating to not two hours ago. He whimpered and cowered at the sight of Duo, scared that he had come to give him a second helping. Duo ignored him, reached forward and grabbed Relena's arm, pulling her to her feet. "We gotta get you out of here," he whispered.

Relena slowly focused her weary eyes on him. "...I-I'm going to b-be sick..." she sputtered.

He really didn't have time for this. Slinging her arm around his shoulders, he dragged her out into the hall and propped her up against the wall, fanning her with her purse. "Come on, focus! We gotta put you back, right now! I need my body so I can get on with this mission! Wake up!!"

Relena only heard every other word, and started to sink down the wall as dizziness took over. Duo hoisted her up with an arm around her waist. "Not NOW, dammit! Get up!" Looking around frantically, he spotted a janitor's closet with the door ajar; pulling her inside, he shut the door and flipped on the 60-watt bulb in the wall socket. Relena sank to the ground, leaning on a cart full of paper towels and hand soap, braid dangling in a bucket of soapy water destined for the floors. He crouched in front of her and checked for vitals.

When the time came to switch them the first time, he didn't have to think about how it was done, it just happened. Now he needed to reverse it, and fast, but there was no flash of insight, no Shinigami whispering in his ear. What was he supposed to do, kiss her again? He found that more than a little repulsive, since this time he'd be kissing himself. He wrapped his hands around his eyes and ears and tried to block out the world. _ Blank out like you did before. It's not frickin' rocket science, just zone out and listen. _ All was quiet.

And the silence was broken by a voice without tone or cadence; it was always there, he just hadn't been paying attention. Taking his hands off his eyes, he looked down at himself, his true self, suddenly calm. He was a pathetic sight, pale and thin, dishevelled from a disturbed night's sleep; Relena obviously hadn't been taking proper care of his body for him. Not like the pampering he gave HERS today, taking her to the finest shops in town, plus that workout, and the succulent lunch of pizza and chicken wings. Probably best if he didn't mention getting molested in the hall, or winning the prize fight of the century.

Relinquishing his mind to instinct, he lifted her head so he could look into her eyes, same as before. Except she seemed to have passed out, so she wasn't about to look at anything. No matter, he sensed that this would be done differently anyway. A soul had to be guided out of it's home and into a new one through close physical contact, but once it was there, it always knew the way back. All that was required was to open both doors at the same time. But he needed her awake.

"Relena?" He slapped her lightly about the face, and the side of her head. "C'mon, don't do this to me..." She stirred with a tiny moan. "Relena! Look at me!"

Lifting her groggy head took all the strength she had, but it was good enough; Duo grasped the sides of her face and imagined himself unlocking a giant steel door. He didn't know if it would be enough, until they locked eyes and he felt the vortex forming around his mind once again. The overwhelming sensations of twisting, pulling, tearing all returned, and an instant later he was on the floor, looking up at Relena's face, contorted in pain.

"OWW!!" she hollered, rubbing her arms and legs. "Everything hurts! Oh God..." She fell to the floor next to him, whimpering, new tears forming in her own eyes. Duo wasn't in pain, the transference was even more effortless than it was the first time...what was she moaning about? Oh...right. He'd pushed her body to it's limits and beyond that day. Every muscle she had must be screaming in agony.

Duo tried to get up, but fell back against the paper towel rolls, lightheaded. "You'll be fine in a couple of days...now, what did you do to ME?" He sat up feebly, rubbing his temples and trying to focus his eyes on her. "Feels like I got hit by a cement truck..." A savage rumbling from his belly told him what was really the matter. "Geez, didn't you EAT today??" he howled.

"I f-felt too sick," she mumbled back. Looking herself over, she let out a cry of surprise at what she was wearing, and another tiny yelp for the braid in her hair. She pulled her tresses apart and scowled at Duo. "What am I doing wearing this? You don't go around in a skirt that short in this school! What must everyone think of me now!?" she shouted.

Hushing her quickly, he pointed out in a muted voice that they were still in the janitor's closet, and they should vacate before someone caught them and assumed the worst. At that moment, Relena was the stronger of the two, and she grudgingly helped him to her dorm room, feigning off strange looks from random students along the way. Dumping him on the sofa, she sat down on her bed, massaging her sore muscles. Lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling, Duo couldn't think of anything else but his empty stomach and how dizzy he was...what was he doing on the sofa? Relena had brought him here...why did he need to find Relena again? So he could get his body back...why did he need it back so soon?_ Oh shit._

He leaped off the sofa, instantly a mistake, as his weak knees buckled under him and sent him crashing to the carpeted floor. "What are you...you're just sitting there...c'mon, get up! Emergency!" He crawled over to the bed and leaned his chin at the foot of the mattress. "You gotta get me some food, I've got a mission like, half an hour ago!"

Relena snapped her head around, furious. Duo actually shrank away, as if something had hit him in the chest. _Whoa...where did she learn to Deathglare like that?_ She was not amused. "I'm not bringing you food or anything else! I should LET you starve after what you put me through today! And even if all this hadn't happened, I'm not your maid OR your waitress, so find your own food!" With that, she went back to rubbing lilac-scented liniment on her aching limbs, determined to ignore him.

Too tired to argue, and in too much of a hurry, he scrambled to his feet and left the apartment, weaving back and forth down the hall as he tried to remember where the closest food supply was. Stumbling to the coffee house at the library entrance, he pulled a pitiful amount of cash from his pockets and wished he still had Relena's purse. He barely had enough for a honey cruller donut, which he shoved down his throat while running the familiar route to the secret hangar, from which he knew four frustrated boys had probably already departed, figuring Duo wasn't going to showing up for this mission.

  
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Just in the nick of time too...but it can't be that easy ALL the time... =^_~= 


	6. Firefight

*whew* Duo got his body back, and not a moment too soon...but how long will it last? =*_*= 

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Duo was running at full speed by the time he got to the launching bay, and as he suspected, the mission had started without him. Wufei had stayed behind to wait, and despite the scary moment earlier when his secret was in danger, Duo was glad to see him. "Hey, Wu-Man!" he cheered, also grateful to have his own voice back.

"You're late, Maxwell."

"Fine, thanks, and how was your day?" he quipped, pulling on his flightsuit.

Wufei gave him the details of the mission quickly. Pretty basic stuff, seek and destroy, take no prisoners. All in a day's work. They climbed into their Gundams and blasted off into the twilight of early evening, under radar. When they reached the rendezvous point, Sandrock, Heavyarms, and Wing Zero were already in the thick of it, exchanging fire with a scouting patrol of about a dozen mobile dolls. Duo wondered why they were all needed for something that seemed so trivial.

He stopped wondering when Sandrock was hit with one of the dolls new forms of weaponry, an energy rifle of such force that the recoil shoved the dolls back a good hundred metres with each blast. Sandrock flew much farther; Heavyarms was there in a flash, and blasted the enemy out of the sky. These dolls didn't care that such a weapon was overkill on solid ground; then again, if they used it in space they'd be thrown so far out of sight it could be hours before they limped back to the battle.

"You alright?" Trowa asked over the comm system.

"...yeah, just a little shaken, that's all...thanks." Quatre answered. Sandrock heaved itself back to it's feet and continued the fight.

Slashing the dolls to pieces, battling alongside his friends, Duo was in his element at last. His body fit him like a glove, and Deathscythe wrapped around him like a comforting second skin. This was loads better than skipping around in that stupid little skirt and those awful, slippery shoes. A pause in the fighting allowed him the luxury of opening his flight suit and running his bare hand down the perfect, beautiful metal surrounding him. _ If I ever leave you again, hit me with something really heavy._

The moment was short-lived, as another batch of dolls was unloaded, probably because the Gundams were there. Curses on being an interesting target. More volleys of energy blasts shot across the sky. Between the five of them, they were able to pare the enemy's numbers down until both sides had equal firepower. A few more shots, and they could go home and relax.

As they advanced, nobody noticed the fallen dolls behind them twitch, hoisting their new energy cannons to aim at the turned backs of the Gundams. Randomly, it chose Heavyarms, and fired with the last of it's energy. The blast struck Trowa's Gundam in the left leg, breaking away large chunks of metal and hydraulic systems, and throwing it dangerously off-balance. It was Sandrock's turn to come charging to the rescue, but the offending doll was already out of energy, and dead on the ground. In the time it took Quatre to realize this, another badly damaged doll raised it's weapon. Heero spotted it this time and barked out a warning over the comm. Sandrock backed away quickly, and the doll was suddenly evaporated by Wing Zero.

Shot-down dolls were reactivating left, right and centre. Apparently they had an energy reserve that saved enough power for one last blast, at the time when the attackers least expected it. Within seconds, all five were dodging enemy fire from the ground. Wufei deciphered the strategy almost immediately, and opened a channel to the others. "They use the last of their strength at the moment of their death! Save your own energy for maneuvering and they will burn themselves out!"

Good plan. Don't get hit. Duo marvelled at Wufei's grasp of the bleeding obvious, but he had a point about the burning-out thing. The Gundams stayed low enough to draw enemy fire, but darted around quickly, avoiding all but a few minor scrapes. All except Deathscythe; normally it was the fastest among them, but it's pilot was suffering from lack of sleep and low blood sugar. One donut in 24 hours was hardly sufficient, it seemed. Food and sleep were what he needed right now...a nice, thick porterhouse steak with all the trimmings, warm apple pie, a lie-down in his own bed where he could watch Heero type...he missed that...

"Duo!" A sharp warning from the radio jerked Duo's head out of the clouds, in barely enough time to avoid a collision with two mangled dolls that were limping off, trying to get unhooked from each other. He swerved Deathscythe out of harms' way and looked back at Heero, the source of the startled cry.

Heero stopped and exhaled, relieved but angry._ Why doesn't that braided baka watch where he's flying!?_ Wing Zero had come to a halt momentarily, so for the first time that battle, Deathscythe wasn't the slowest moving object on the playing field. The last four dolls with enough power to fire realized this all at once and targeted Wing from all sides. Duo saw it first.

_He doesn't see them..._"Heero!!" Suddenly full of energy, he powered main thrusters to full and swooped forward, knocking Wing off it's feet a half-second before the dolls opened fire. The world reversed polarity when the blasts hit; all the light that was inside was suddenly outside, beating against Deathscythe's hull, and the cockpit went dark. One explosion came too near and shattered the metal wall on Duo's right-hand side, sending hot shrapnel straight through his flight suit and into his upper arm. He gritted his teeth and let out a strangled cry of pain, letting go of the controls to clutch at his wound. More explosions followed, only outside; Heero was beating the tar out of the remaining dolls, dead or otherwise.

The horizon line was twisting; was he passing out from shock now? A shake of the head didn't stop it, and he quickly realized that his Gundam was about to tip over. Ignoring the pain, he held his shoulder harness and winced as the metal giant impacted with the ground a few seconds later. The motion had stopped, but his head still felt like it was travelling past the ground and into the next time zone. NOW he was passing out from shock.

Sounds of metal scraping on metal pierced his eardrums as the hatch was pried open from the outside, giving Duo the most beautiful view in the world--a pair of prussian blue eyes, looking almost concerned...but he had to use his imagination to really see it. He smiled up at them...or down, rather, since the angle at which Deathscythe had collided with the ground left Duo partially suspended from his chair. "Not one of my shining moments, eh Hee-chan?"

"Hn.." he grunted, gingerly unbuckling the straps around Duo's bleeding arm. With the last harness unfastened and nothing to hold onto, he fell out of his chair; Heero caught him effortlessly, just as the other pilots scrambled closer to see if he was alright.

"Oh, NO! I should have been watching! I'm so sorry, Duo!"

"Man, they nailed you good, didn't they?"

"Deep breaths, Maxwell."

He could barely stand, putting all of his remaining energy into his trademark smile. "Hey, forget it, we got 'em, didn't we? No problem.....nothing but net...." And then he passed out from shock.

  
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Yikes! He'd better pull through... =x_X= 


	7. Subscription Renewal

Things are gonna heat up a little bit, very soon... =^_~=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Duo spent the next few days in bed; he probably only really needed half a day's rest, but self-pity won out over reason. Heero sat up with him all night, after removing the shrapnel from his arm and bandaging it expertly. Quatre brought him trays full of cafeteria goodies every meal, and Trowa brought pictures of the damage done to Deathscythe, along with reports on how well the repairs were going. The hole those dolls blew in the side of his Gundam was impressive. He could see now why Heero looked so worried when he pried open the hatch; Duo had come within a few inches of death, if it was possible for him to die.

They were all pillars of strength in his time of need, as always, but the best part...the very best part was that Heero had taken Duo back to their old dorm room. They had all offered to look after him for a day or two, since he really had no use of his right arm, but Heero had insisted. That felt nice. For awhile it was like things were back to normal.

Then things started to make less and less sense, once Duo had time to think. It bothered him that Heero hadn't seen four energy rifles being aimed at him. How in the hell could Duo see something when he was at his absolute slowest, and Mr. Perfect Soldier miss it completely? He must've been distracted by something..._Me. He warned me off a collision, but...he had plenty of time to look around him after that. _ A few seconds at most, but for him, it should have been plenty of time.

Heero also hadn't touched him in any way since bandaging his arm. That bothered him too; it didn't surprise him, but it bothered him. After the close encounter in Relena's body, he half-hoped he could carry on where he left off without switching again, but the way Heero looked at him...there was something really wrong. Like a blue-eyed brick wall.

**********  


On the morning of the third day, Duo stubbornly refused to get up. He had gotten WAY too comfortable living the easy life, having his meals brought to him, and so forth, so he ignored Heero's repeated shouts to rise and shine or face a painful death. He gave up after awhile, and Duo snuggled back under the covers content with his victory.

A knock came at the door, and then a familiar voice. "Heero? I'm sorry I didn't meet you all after the mission, I just couldn't make it. May I come in?" _ Relena..._ Duo shrank further under the covers and pretended to be asleep.

Heero stood aside and let her pass. No doubt she hadn't visited any of them yet because she'd been too sore to move.

"I brought you some brownies," she chirped, "just to say sorry for not being there for you, that's all." She handed him a plate stacked high with chocolate delights.

"Uh...thank you." Heero sounded bewildered._ Damn, I wish I could see that_, Duo thought. Teased by thoughts of Heero looking dazed and confused, he peeked out from under the blanket.

"I'm glad everyone made it out alright," she said, taking the tiniest of steps forward. She looked down at her feet. "You know...every time you go out there...I worry. I think, maybe this is the time you won't come back..." Duo was nauseated. This was worse than having his arm shredded.

Heero didn't say anything, but had just started to half-look over his shoulder to the bed when Relena crossed that fine line. She took a much larger step forward, ran her hands up Heero's chest and laced her fingers behind his neck. "But I didn't want you to think I didn't care...because I DO care...very, very much..." She was leaning in so close they were about to bump noses.

Duo was an inch away from leaping out of bed and tearing her hands off his man when Heero saved him the trouble. When her lips were a scant inch away from his, he reached behind his neck and roughly peeled her hands off. Relena's sweet smile turned to a painful look of shock and disappointment. Heero said nothing, dropped her hands back at her sides, and glared at her. Cruel as it was to enjoy seeing her hurt expression, Duo's heart leapt for joy. He didn't want her!

A hair's breadth from bursting into tears, Relena turned and ran out of the apartment. Heero walked briskly back to the bed, grabbed a corner of the blanket, and flung it off Duo, who was curled in a ball pretending to be asleep...he even let out a tiny snore for effect. Curiosity opened his eyes for him after a few moments; he looked up. Heero's eyes were on fire. They made Duo shrink away and curl up into a tighter ball._ What's he angry at me for? Is he hurt? Is he frustrated? Jealous? Hungry? What!?_

Ten minutes later, neither had moved; Heero was still staring him further into the corner between the mattress and the wall. Duo cracked under the weight of those ice blue eyes and lifted his head up. "WHAT!?!" he barked.

Heero blinked, returning to normal, except for being slightly flushed with a couple of veins standing out on his neck. He went back to his laptop and ignored Duo for the rest of the morning.

**********  


Retreating to the gym, the injured pilot spent the evening testing the strength in his battered right arm. He ran the morning's events over and over in him mind, trying to figure out what he did to make Heero so angry. He'd never seen him like that before...it was partly anger, but there was something else in his face, something Duo didn't recognize. If he could just have some quiet time to think...

"YOU!"...or not. His head snapped around to see the other students in the gym backing away from a very angry Relena. She stomped over to his quiet corner; as she neared he could see her face was red and tear-stained. "What have you got to SAY for yourself, Maxwell!?" she howled.

"Keep your voice down!" he pleaded in a hushed whisper. "What's eating you?" As if he didn't know.

"What did you say to him about me? He used to be reasonably POLITE, at least, and now he can't stand to be around me!" She was in danger of bursting into tears again. "You were supposed to fix things between us!"

"I didn't have time!" Duo whined. "I couldn't find him anywhere, and then we had that mission...I just need more time!"

"Well, you can send me a message when you think you've got it right." she sniffed, turning to leave.

He grabbed her wrist. "Not so fast..." She flinched violently and looked at him, terrified. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. "We gotta do that...switching...thing again."

Relena's eyes widened. "No!" He hushed her again and tilted his head towards the storage room. Grudgingly, she nodded, and they slipped inside. They were turning this closet thing into a bad habit.

As soon as they were safely out of view, she whirled around and bit his head off. "You've got no right to ask me to do that again! I don't see why you have to look like me anyway! Can't you talk to him yourself?" Sweet, innocent Relena...she had such a pious, incorruptible mind.

"Look, it would've worked the first time if I'd been able to FIND him, and I just need to look like you because..." he struggled. Maybe if he sprinkled in a little bit of the truth, it would sound convincing. "...because what I need to say to him, to make him understand who loves him...I can't do it in my body. It wouldn't sound right coming out of my mouth, and Heero wouldn't accept it." He sighed deeply. It was true. "Just trust me for a little while longer. Please."

She bit her lip, thinking. After a long pause, she met his eyes and breathed her answer. "Okay."

Brushing off the momentary shock at her acceptance, Duo wrapped his hands around her throat, gently but firmly, and tried to clear his mind. He locked eyes with her, breathing deeply, and the shadowy words came once again, amidst the sound of giant waves crashing against their ears. Pulling her forward, he kissed her hard, the vortex opening between them. A great current swept their souls past one another, and suddenly all was quiet. Opening their eyes with a start, they pulled away from each other, leaning against the walls to steady themselves. It had been easier that time.

Relena yelped and grabbed her upper arm. Tugging up the sleeve of Duo's shirt she saw it was wrapped up in gauze and tape, and there were spots of dried blood scattered on the dressing. "Wha...?"

Duo shrugged, combing his fingers through his borrowed hair. "We got into a bit of a scrape on that mission...nothing to worry about."

"Oh! I didn't realize! Was Heero hurt?" she whispered. Duo bit his tongue in anger; only the pleasant sound of his own voice breathing Heero's name kept him from tearing her off a strip for being so insensitive.

"No, he's fine." He straightened her purse strap on his shoulder. "And now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do."

"Wait!" she begged. "What about me? What about this arm? It really hurts!"

Duo reached out and tugged the sleeve back over his own arm, rubbing it affectionately. "I'll help you back to your room, ok? Just rest up and let it heal on it's own. Think of it as a little vacation. It's not all bad!" He gave her a reassuring smile.

She shook her braided head. "Trowa told me you were staying in Heero's room. I should go there, or they might all get suspicious." _ Blabbermouth,_ Duo thought. He wondered if she was really as thick in the head as she acted sometimes.

"Alright," he said with a sigh. And with that they left the storage room, ignoring the stares and grins from the other students, and made their way to Heero's dorm.

He wasn't there when they arrived, thank goodness. Duo pointed her to his bed. "Well, tv's there, fridge over there, I think you know where the laptop is..." he smirked. "So I'll leave you to it. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"As soon as you finish talking to him, send him straight home. I don't want him losing any sleep because of this."

_ I'll bet,_ he thought as he left.

**********  


Before going out Heero-hunting, he returned to Relena's room and changed back into the short skirt and clingy top. They were corny, but he was kinda used to them, and they looked loads better than the frumpy jeans and beaded sweater she'd been wearing earlier. Looking in the mirror, he thought his...no, Relena's reflection, was a little off somehow. He checked the dimmer switch on the wall; the lights were on full. What was wrong? Her hair was different...it wasn't sandy blonde anymore, it seemed a shade or two darker. No, that was impossible, just a trick of the light combined with mental fatigue. He braided it deftly.

Searching the usual haunts turned up nothing, and the next most obvious place for Heero to be was in the launching bay, tending to Wing Zero. He made it there fairly easily, despite being stopped once along the way for a random I.D. check.

Shuffling through Relena's purse for her student card, he stumbled across the little package of white pills he'd bought a few days ago._ Cripes, I forgot all about these! _ If she'd seen them in the days since, she didn't let on. He took one out and swallowed it quickly, as if they might be confiscated at any moment, while the imposing guard studied her portrait.

The guard squinted at him over and over, looking back and forth between his idiotically smiling face and the picture on the I.D. card. "This isn't you, is it?" he growled.

Duo put the smile away and tried not to look terrified. Fumbling through the purse again, he pulled out a mirrored compact and had a good look at himself. He had to admit, the guy had a point. It wasn't just the hair that was a bit darker, the eyes were off as well. The bright blue of her eyes had a purplish tinge now. "Oh, that?" he sang. "Contacts. Do you like them?" he said, batting his lashes as he put the mirror away.

Unflustered, the guard looked him over one last time, and finally waved him through. He tried not to run the rest of the way; it was already dark out, and soon he'd be drawing the wrong kind of attention in that skirt. Once he reached his destination, no one objected to his presence in the compound; in fact the workmen were all humbled by the presence of a Peacecraft. Slipping into the hangar that contained Deathscythe, he looked around carefully for signs of life. The place was empty of humans; a door in the far wall led to the hangar hiding Wing Zero. But first..._I wonder if it knows me under all this fluff and goop._

Duo walked over to Deathscythe. He could see Relena reflected in the shiny metal of it's left foot, and as he drew closer, the changes looked even more drastic. He looked less like Relena, and more like himself in a skirt. Ignoring this disturbing vision, he laid a hand on the cold metal. _ It's me..._

Perfectly on cue, Deathscythe's eyes began to glow. Duo's breath caught in his throat, but he didn't take his hand away. It recognized him. It knew him. The realization that his old friend could see it's master through any sort of disguise warmed him. He knew this magnificent creature had a soul too, though none of the other pilots were quick to believe it._ Can't pull anything on you, can I? _ He grinned, stepping back. The glow faded.

Slowly he made his way to the back door, the door to the next hangar, the last place he could look for Heero. He had to be there, there was nowhere else he could be. Duo had actually skipped dinner to prowl all over the campus looking for him, without success. Clutching the handle, he held his breath as the lock clicked and the door swung open with a tired creak. This room was dark as well; he stepped inside and let the door close behind him. 

Wing Zero loomed overhead like a giant, and sitting on it's shoulder was a Lilliputian in a tank top and spandex. He had found Heero.

  
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#^_^# Oh my...this is definitely going somewhere... 


	8. A Crack in the Perfect Mask

This chapter is a *little* bit spicy, nothing nasty, just a hint of citrus, ok? =*_*=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Heero aimed his gun at the intruder. "Identify yourself," he said calmly. His voice echoed in the huge warehouse as he looked down from atop Wing Zero's shoulder. A difficult shot, at this range, but nothing he couldn't handle. He could tell the intruder hadn't moved yet, and he knew the position of the door. Assuming the person was of average height, he calculated that he could plant one in either the head or the chest with decent accuracy.

Duo stepped into a pool of light no more than four foot square, cast from a security floodlight outside the hanger, through a small, barred window. He brushed his bangs away from his face and looked up at Heero.

Startled, Heero put the gun away and jumped down effortlessly, dropping to one knee, then rising slowly. He took in the strange sight before him; on the surface, it appeared to be Relena Peacecraft, but...

"Thought you might like some company," the apparition said. "I know things didn't go well this morning, but I'm hoping there's no hard feelings..." Duo nearly bit his tongue again, realizing how bad that sounded, although it probably only sounded that way to him.

Heero's eyes ran up and down the apparition. Her hair was braided, like it was a few days ago, but it looked darker than it had this morning. Her eyes looked strange too, although both of these could be explained away by the odd colouring of the light streaming in the window. Satisfied with this, he walked forward. "No, it's fine. Daijoubu," he said, with a quick shake of his pretty head. He stopped right in front of Duo, almost as close as they had been a few nights ago outside his dorm.

They stood there for awhile, then Duo scrunched his shoulders up and down, and gave Heero a goofy wide-eyed smile. Heero's concrete scowl softened, and his brow unfurrowed itself. He actually seemed relaxed by this. They left together, and made their way back to the campus. All the while, they talked like before, about life, work, school, fighting the good fight, all without ever touching on the subjects of body-switching or secret identities. Duo found it was possible to talk very closely with someone without getting hung up on identity; it was gloriously liberating. He bet Relena had never been able to get him to open up like this. It actually helped himself open up by the same amount.

It was well past 10:00 at night by the time they made it back, and it was longer than that before Duo realized he'd been hanging off Heero's arm without getting his lights punched out. People smiled at them as they walked past, thinking what a cute couple they made. They could feel the warm, fuzzy glances following them around, and it didn't bother either of them.

Pausing on a park bench outside Relena's dorm, Duo forgot his role, totally relaxed. "...ne, Heero?"

"Hn?"

"Can we do this again sometime?"

A pause. "Hai...I'd like that." Another pause. Was Duo hearing things? Never mind, plenty of days ahead to sort it all out. He decided not to press his luck, and just go to bed; time to put the book of fairy tales away, for tonight at least.

Duo rose from the bench. "Guess I should be going...it's pretty late," he said, taking a step towards the dorm entrance.

"I'll walk you there." Heero was on his feet and leading the way...this was unexpected. Not unpleasant, mind you...Duo agreed wordlessly and took his arm, as they walked down the hall and up the stairs.

**********  


A short walk away, in Heero's dorm room, Relena paced. A horrible, gut-wrenching feeling had just crawled under her skin and was sending shockwaves through her brain that something, besides the obvious, was seriously amiss. Had something happened to Heero to make him late? Was he hurt? In trouble? On a last-minute mission? She sat down in his chair and stared at his laptop, hoping it would spring to life and explain the last few days to her.

Why had she agreed to this ridiculous farce? Was she truly so bereft of ideas on how to make her true love respond that she needed the All-American Dimwit to switch bodies with her? She wanted to tell someone, anyone, about what he had convinced...no, about what he had DONE to her. She felt coerced. Backed into a corner and told that this was the only way. But looking at the situation with a sober mind made it seem impossible to make anyone understand, or even believe her.

Relena suddenly felt sick again. Like before, she had stopped eating and drinking while inhabiting Duo's body. Once safely inside the bathroom she was startled by her own reflection in the full-length mirror glued to the door. A slender boy with a chestnut braid stared back at her. This was unbearable. She wanted her body back. And she wanted Heero to come home.

She walked weakly back to Duo's bed and curled up on it, thinking.

Wufei. He would understand...or at least, he might listen long enough for her to make her case. Out of all the people she knew, he had the most logical, orderly mind, and was most likely to believe her.

But then, she didn't want to get Duo into trouble either; he was her friend...sort of. She would give him until tomorrow do whatever he had planned to make Heero pay attention to her, and then that was it. No more extensions, if he didn't get the job done by tomorrow, the deal was off.

She pulled the blanket over her, staring at the door, determined to keep watch for Heero. Gradually, she weakened and fell asleep, but the awful, gut-wrenching feeling of foreboding wouldn't go away. Something was about to happen...

**********  


Duo and Heero stopped outside Relena's dorm room. _Christ, look at us. We're ridiculous,_ Duo thought. Well, only he fit that description, really. The absurdity of the last few days started to sink in, including his plans for him and Heero. _I gotta get my head examined as soon as this is over..._another disturbing realization. In the back of his mind, he expected it to end, like all good fairy tales do. If he was supposed to cope with that, the least he could ask in return was another good-night kiss, he reasoned. Best not to get his hopes too high up, after all.

He stood there, wondering if he was supposed to let Heero make the first move this time. A janitor was eyeing them, ready to alert Student Residence Services if he saw them do anything untoward. Heero made the janitor shrink around the corner with a Deathglare that was one step below being lethal itself. He turned his attention back to "Relena".

Ten seconds passed. Twenty. What was he waiting for? "So...any plans for the weekend?" Duo asked, trying to shatter the tension that only he felt.

"Time off, hopefully," Heero answered, "I've been cutting back on sleep and food lately for the sake of the missions. I didn't have dinner tonight because I was busy with repairs..." The look on his face was still severe, but tinged with something...unfamiliar. The corners of Heero's mouth weren't pointing as far down as they usually did.

Duo didn't know what to make of this, but he remembered the stash of tiny cakes, sweets and exotic coffees that Relena kept hidden in the bottom drawer of her dresser. With a sly grin he wondered if Heero knew that all along. "Are you inviting yourself in for a snack?" he asked, putting a hand on his hip.

"If you don't mind," Heero replied, huskily.

Duo shivered and opened the door, never taking his eyes off the visitor. He backed up into the apartment, repeating those words over and over in his mind. Heero shut the door and leaned against it; his expression grew stranger still. And he hadn't turned the lights on yet. _Oh my God..._

With two quick strides forward, Heero was in front of him, leaning against him, holding Duo's face in his hands and tilting it up to meet his..."Wha...are you...feeling alright?" Duo croaked, not wanting to pull away.

Heero pressed a finger to his lips. "...ashita..." he whispered.

_Tomorrow? What about tomorrow? _Duo thought, with as much innocence as he could muster.

Coiling one arm around his partner's waist, Heero leaned forward and began placing delicate kisses up and down Duo's neck. Gasping slightly, Duo clutched his Perfect Soldier closer to him, startled again by the warmth of his thin body. Turning his head to expose more of his neck, he caught a glimpse of the scene from a conveniently-placed mirror. Heero had his arms around Relena Peacecraft, nibbling her neck, hands running up her back, under her shirt...

Duo gasped and pulled away. What was this rat-bastard trying to pull, anyway? For months and months, Duo had been scrounging and begging for scraps of affection, then as soon as the guy gets _Relena _alone, he...but he'd been alone with her plenty of times, and nobody mentioned this happening. Had it been going on all along and their friendship just wasn't strong enough for Heero to mention it? And why was he looking so damn calm!?

Taking a step forward, Heero reached out and drew Duo close again, cradling his head against his shoulder with one hand and stroking his braid with the other. "Daijoubu..." He stuttered for words, slightly. "I know there's much I don't understand....about..." He couldn't quite finish the thought, instead putting his hands on Duo's shoulders and looking into those strange eyes that seemed half his and half Relena's. "...but I do understand sacrifice."

_Sacrifice? What the hell? _ The word clattered around in Duo's head until he gave up trying to make sense of it. Looking up at those prussian blue gems that had suddenly turned from stern to soft in his privileged presence, he chose to ignore his suspicions. _ Maybe there's something in it, in what I look like...something between them...but I'M here now._

Duo stopped his inward babbling, grabbed Heero by the front of his tank top, and yanked him forward, kissing him full on the lips. He had been backed up nearly to the edge of Relena's bed, and quickly found himself on his back, being pressed into the mattress. Heero's mouth was on his throat, his torso pinning him down, and his hands in too many places to count. Maybe Heero didn't know what love was, but his animal instincts were working perfectly.

Then, just when Duo thought he was about to have the swishy skirt ripped off him (he hadn't made up his mind whether or not to encourage it), Heero paused, lifted himself up on his elbows, and looked quietly at his treasure. Looking up at him, Duo witnessed something phenomenal. Heero's expression softened, slowly at first, beginning with his furtive brow, which relaxed and hovered over his sparkling eyes like the delicately arched limbs of a tree sapling. The effect cascaded down his face and played upon his lips, making them curl up ever so slightly. He was gently smiling.

He did know what love was. He had to, to look at him that way. "Heero?"

Duo's whisper was silenced with a kiss. All of Heero's actions had softened now, and they felt more than comfortable enough to wrap their arms close around each other and begin the long journey toward sunrise together. Only the tiniest nagging doubt crept into Duo's mind, reminding him that from Heero's point of view, he was making love to Relena. Another kiss placed at the base of his neck burned away all notions of wrongdoing, and he answered the tiny voice, smirking inwardly.

_Well.......it's not ALL bad._

  
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=*_*= Ooooooohhhh.....now, see, that wasn't so bad, was it? =^_^= How's it going to be the morning after? 


	9. Deathwish

=@_@= Duo's going to be in SERIOUS trouble soon...

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Hazy sunlight broke through scattered clouds to rest upon the sleeping couple. Duo woke without an alarm clock, and laid still for nearly an hour, cradling Heero's head against his shoulder and stroking his hair. His lover's arms were firmly wrapped around his slender waist; every now and then, a tiny moan of contentment escaped Heero's lips as he slept, making his partner smile up at the sun and marvel at how lucky he was. This was heaven to him.

Faintly, they heard someone trying the doorknob on the door to the tiny apartment, only to find it locked. Rousing slowly from their slumber, they both wondered if they had dreamed the noise, then forgot it immediately as their eyes met and they found each other's arms once again. Duo exhaled deeply as another flood of kisses and caresses came his way. He had been barraged with so much caged passion in the last nine hours, he truly wondered if there was room left in his soul to hold more.

Outside the lovers' embrace, outside the door, a pair of lonely eyes stared at a doorknob that wouldn't turn.

**********  


Relena backed up until she was leaning against the wall opposite her dorm room. That baka still had her purse, and her keys. He never came by in the morning like he promised. And he didn't send Heero home for sleep either. He _lied _to her, dammit!

Letting her head fall back against the wall, she gave into the dizziness that was following her around like a swarm of mosquitos. She still wasn't eating. The whole ordeal was unsettling her so badly that sleep was also becoming a problem. All through the previous night, she had woken up repeatedly, feeling as if she had been shaken by a stray phantom. Cold breath was felt against her ear each time, whispering...or taunting? It knew something she didn't, and it delighted in torturing her with it over and over until she gave up on sleep and watched the sun rise with bloodshot eyes. Not once could she clearly hear the secret.

And to top it all off, she'd waited in that room all night for Heero, and he never came. She couldn't even go back to her own bed and take a late-morning nap because that idiot Duo had her keys!

She balled her fists unconsciously, and was about to slam them against the wall in frustration, when a muffled sound emerged from her room. A clunk, like a small but heavy object hitting the carpeted floor. She quickly pressed an ear to the door; something else hit the floor, lighter this time. There was someone in her room! She had to get in there...

"Hey, you! You're not supposed to be in here at this hour! Get back to your dorm!" a middle-aged woman shouted from the end of the hall. Of course; she was a boy in the girl's dorm at half-past seven in the morning. Relena panicked and ran away, getting as far as a picnic table between the two dorms before collapsing on it from hunger and fatigue.

She knew this place. This was the spot where she had told Duo how worried she was about her relationship with Heero, or lack thereof. This was where she nearly wept for their future...where she said she would sell her very soul...

Turning her face away from the early-morning joggers, she laid her head down on her folded arms and cried.

**********  


Duo poked his head out into the hall first, looking around. "Coast is clear," he whispered. Heero emerged quite calmly, not the slightest bit concerned with getting caught leaving Relena's room. Duo locked the door behind them and grabbed Heero's arm. "Come on, before someone spots us." He dragged him down the hall towards the cafeteria. Duo wasn't particularly concerned with being caught by a random professor, or janitor, or even other students. If anyone gave them hell for this, he'd smile at them sweetly, then tell them to make like a duck and flock off.

With one possible exception; if he saw himself, the plan was to turn and run like the wind.

It was mid-morning, pretty much too late for breakfast, but that meant they had the bulk of the cafeteria to themselves. Talking casually over brunch, Duo removed his left shoe and massaged the aching sole of his foot, from when he had stepped on a jar of cold cream getting out of bed. Of all the stupid things. It must have been on the bedside table earlier; a smile crept to his lips at the many thoughts of how it could have been dislodged from it's resting place. A wider grin appeared when he replayed Heero stepping out of bed onto a hairbrush and yelping loudly. Too cute.

He resumed inhaling his late breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast with jam, sausages, mini pancakes, coffee, juice and a blueberry muffin were disappearing rather quickly from Duo's tray. He paused with his mouth full when he realized his companion was sitting motionless, not eating. He looked up with Relena's innocent eyes and was greeted by a marvellous sight. Heero was grinning at him.

Duo's eyes widened, mouth packed with pancakes and fork hanging in mid-air, waiting for clearance to land. "Whud?" It was so comical seeing Relena stuff her face and then talk with her mouth full that Heero couldn't contain himself. He sputtered and struggled not to smile, using every last drop of his soldier's training to keep from laughing out loud. Duo scrunched up his face at the boy.

"Mrrf." He tried to swallow and found he'd taken one bite too many.

Another seizure gripped Heero, and he continued to smirk faintly and choke out odd noises before forcing coffee down his throat to settle himself down.

Putting the fork down and grabbing at his throat, Duo squeezed down the rest of the mouthful, washed it down with a gulp of orange juice, and spread his hands out in front of him. "What!?" he squeaked in a high-pitched whisper.

Heero picked up his own fork and attacked his meal, trying hard not to stare anymore. "...nothing..." The grin had faded, but wasn't completely gone.

_Weirdo, _Duo thought, as he picked up his tray and went back for seconds.

Saturday stretched out before them, no classes, no obligations, perhaps no missions, but strangely, Heero hadn't gone back to his room to check. Could he justify such slackness and levity? Yes, he thought to himself, he was already on a mission of enormous importance...to him at least. Setting himself back at his breakfast, he let his mind wander over what had been a very odd week.

"Oi, Hee-chan!" A hand slapped him roughly on the back, and not a second later, a bouncing, braided Duo Maxwell slid into the chair opposite him. "Been lookin' all over for ya!" The boy sported exactly the right amount of grin, but something felt wrong about him.

Heero glanced toward the kitchens; his lover had not yet returned. The logic circuits in his brain were fried instantly. "You've found me." he said simply, with a tiny shrug.

Duo rounded the corner with a new tray-load of food and froze at the sight. His old body was sitting across from Heero, laughing and chatting up a storm. He strode towards the table quickly and stood directly to Relena's left hand side, hanging on to what was left of his temper. "Duo, I believe you're in my seat." he growled.

Relena looked up and narrowed her eyes at Duo, but the smile was still there. "Pull up a chair, why don't ya? I'm comfy here!" She patted the side of the table between herself and Heero. "Room enough for three..."

He saw what she was doing; a bad impersonation of himself, that's what she was doing. Scowling, Duo put the tray down at the appointed spot and turned around to scoff a third chair from another table. While his back was turned, Relena grabbed the tray and drooled over it with gusto. "Hey, my fave! Thanks, 'Lena!" Before Duo could protest, she picked up a fork and began eating, not as voraciously as Duo had, but she was still fairly weak from hunger.

Duo sat down with dignity and took the plate of toast off the tray. Anyone passing by at that moment would surely have thought they were twin siblings. Each had a long braid that was an almost identical shade of brown, each had eyes a peculiar shade of violet, though one set was a bit lighter in colour. Both were looking at each other as they ate like there was something sordid going on between them.

Smiling innocently, Duo grasped his paramour's hand. "I think I'd like butter on my toast this time. Heero, would you run and get me some?"

Heero looked back and forth between them, then complied. "Hn..."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Duo laid into Relena hard. "What are you doing!?" he hissed.

"I'm eating, finally," she replied. "I had to or I was going to pass out."

"You know what I mean, what are you doing here?"

Relena put down her fork very calmly, and unleashed a fierce Deathglare on Duo. He gave a tiny start at how menacing that looked; he felt an instant sympathy with every soldier who had seen that look before joining the dearly departed. "Where were you last night? BOTH of you?"

Duo shrugged. "Nowhere special, just....out. Fixing Wing. Why? Where do you think we were?"he asked, innocently.

She shook an angry finger at him. "Your little science experiment is over! I want my body back, and I don't care if you're finished with it or not. You're a rotten little thief, Maxwell, and if you don't put me back where I'm supposed to be, I'm going straight to Wufei with the whole story."

That made him stop breathing. Wufei could be a problem, especially after the sideshow he witnessed the other day. "Even IF he believes you, and I'm not saying I'll go along with anything you tell him, what's he gonna do about it, huh?" He really didn't want to know the answer to that, but he gambled that at the very least, Wufei had a natural abhorrence of violence towards females.

"I'll tell you what he'll do, he'll force you to put yourself back in your own body and then tear you to pieces!" Relena heard her voice crack with despair. In her heart of hearts she knew there was probably very little Wufei could do, really, but she was so anxious for someone to understand her sorrow...

Mercifully, Heero returned with the butter at that moment. "Thank you, Heero," Duo purred. Relena's glare worsened. After studying the toast for a few seconds, and noticing that Heero was pretty much done eating, he stood up, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him out of his chair. "Actually, I don't think I need that right now." He patted his trim tummy. "Gotta watch my girlish figure. He grinned and winked at Relena, pushing the toast towards her. "Enjoy."

With that, he whisked Heero away, out of the cafeteria and down the hall before Relena could make a sound. She sat there at an empty table, surrounded by food she could no longer stomach looking at, staring after the traitors. This was war.

**********  


The massive brunch gave Duo a surplus of energy he didn't know what to do with. He bounced down the halls chattering and smiling, and totally forgetting to act like Relena. They wiled away their Saturday afternoon in town, meandering around the shops and stopping to chat with fellow students. If any of them suspected he wasn't who he appeared to be, they didn't let on.

The biggest thrill was seeing Trowa and Quatre, on their way to a matinée (and probably the back row, Duo thought), and after a short gab about where everyone was going that day, they continued on as if nothing was wrong. He felt slightly bad about deceiving his friends, but made up for it with inner laughter over how well the disguise worked.

Eventually, they made a complete circle back to the campus, stopping in front of the gyms. He punched Heero playfully in the arm. "How 'bout a little one-on-one?" he asked, nodding toward the basketball court.

The glorious grin returned to Heero's face. "You're on."

Emerging from separate changing rooms in their gym clothes, they began the match instantly. Heero had the ball first. They stood opposite each other in battle poses, until Heero made a swift breakaway, spun Duo around and scored the first point with an easy lay-up. Duo put his hands on his hips. _So that's the way it's gonna be, is it?_ He smirked and circled his opponent. Another volley of fasts breaks and fancy footwork, and Duo had the ball; he tore past Heero and jumped for the slam-dunk. He crossed his arms in a very ladylike manner and fluttered his eyelashes. Now it was Heero's turn to stop and stare; he didn't look the least bit displeased. Back and forth they attacked each other's defences, and after twenty minutes of exertion, the score was tied at 20.

_Crunch time,_ Duo thought. He was impressed with Relena's body for performing so well after so little exercise. He was _amazed_ at the fact that her breasts didn't get in the way like he imagined they would. Last point of the match, and Heero had the ball again. Knowing that every move he'd made that game had been catalogued and probably had a defence by now, he had to come up with something new if he was going to win. He mentally plotted an intricate series of close-range steps that he was certain would confuse his opponent long enough to try for the long overhand shot. Dashing forward, his every manoeuvre was met by a counter-move. Duo was too quick for him! A quick swipe of Duo's left foot and Heero's legs fell out from under him, sending him crashing to the gym floor. The ball skittered away, out of reach.

Heero cursed inwardly, knowing that would end the match, but instead of hearing sneakers squeaking at breakneck speed towards the escaped ball, he felt a sudden pressure on his lower back, and then his right arm being pulled behind him and pinned in place. Duo smiled down triumphantly at his captive, keeping a gentle but firm grip on the boy's arm. Heero struggled half-heartedly, not really wanting to escape his lover's clutches.

Duo leaned forward and nuzzled the back of Heero's neck. "Tell me the truth," he cooed, "who do you love more, your laptop, or me?" He grinned wickedly as he tightened his grip.

A similar smile crept across Heero's face. "...can I think about it for awhile?" Duo twisted his arm. "Ow! OW!! Baka!" He was laughing. Actually laughing. Duo kissed his prisoner's cheek, relishing the beautiful sound.

**********  


Laughing. Two hands gripped the railing of the mezzanine above the gym until the knuckles turned white._ Laughing! _ There would be no reprieve now, no forgiveness, no mercy. Relena saw for the first time what Duo had been concerned with all along. He didn't give a damn about her feelings; worse than that, he was in love with her man! Her stomach lurched at the thought, not only of Duo pawing him and drooling in his ear using his own body, but the thought of him actually using hers in such a despicable manner. Last night, they must have been...no, no, she couldn't even _think _it!

Tears blurred her vision until she could no longer see the pair, cuddling and playing on the gym floor far below. For an instant she considered throwing herself over the railing and ending her life right in front of them; but no, perhaps this was still salvageable. No matter how much she hated Duo right now, one of his promises had been fulfilled. Heero would forever look at her in a new light.

What a pity his new toy boy wouldn't be around to see it. She turned on her heel and went looking for Wufei.

"You're dead, Maxwell."

  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
=X_x= ...dead...that's so...final-sounding... 


	10. I've Got My Eye On You

=X_x= Only one chapter left after this one...I don't think I can stand the suspense!

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Relena ran, legs pounding, head aching, heart racing wildly. Random students called out a greeting, using Duo's name; she ignored them all. None of them were the person she was looking for. She ran up and down the halls until her lungs felt they would crack under the pressure of her breathing. It actually felt good to run, despite the circumstances. Duo's body had been kept in top condition all his life, and his slight, lanky form was so easy to pilot from wing to wing of the campus, even at full speed. But she was certainly far past "full speed" by now.

Every hallway, every classroom, every lecture hall and secret corner she thought to search turned up nothing. Leaning forward on her knees to catch her breath, she thought something so absurd she laughed out loud. _Now, if I were Wufei, where would I be..._

**********  


The contents of Relena's gym locker were strewn out all over the bench in the ladies' changing room. There was a buried treasure in there somewhere, and Duo had emptied the locker trying to find it..."Aha! Gotcha!" Victoriously, he drew a hair dryer from the mess, plugged it in, and worked the warmth through his sopping wet hair. Relena's hair. He kept forgetting that minor detail. About the twelfth time today, too...

Never mind, he had what he really wanted. Heero was finally his, God was in his heaven, and all was right with the world.

Almost right; Duo stopped moving the hair dryer when he really looked at himself. The face of Relena was less defined than before;_ I must finally be going crazy,_ he thought. When he studied his reflection more carefully, he saw his own nose in place of hers, his own thin lips where her fuller, more curvaceous ones should be, and his eyes...

The quiet of the room was shattered by the sound of the hair dryer falling to the floor, cracking the case, and pulling the plug out of the wall socket, silencing it for good.

**********  


Desperate and exhausted, Relena leaned against the door to the library, panting. Wufei was nowhere to be found, and time was running out before that conniving, braided thief took Heero away for good. Finding nothing inside, she moved outside and ran across the grounds.

**********  


The clattering that came from the girls' changing room left Heero's nerves slightly on edge. He knocked on the door, and waited. Another knock. "Daijoubu desu ka?"

Shuffling noises and the sounds of more items being dropped were heard inside. "Yeah, I'm just...shoot! I'm coming!" Duo poked his semi-dried head out of the changing room after squishing Relena's gear back in her locker and slamming it shut. "Dropped my hair dryer," he said with a slight smile, squeezing a few drops out of his braid, "maybe it'll dry in the sun, huh?"

Heero nodded and stepped back, giving his friend room to swing the door open; as soon as he did, his eyes widened. Duo had judged the old pink top and skirt to be ready for the laundromat, and unworthy of another wear. Unfortunately, Relena didn't keep anything else in the way of clothes in her locker, and he couldn't go walking around in gym shorts the rest of the day after stepping out of the shower, obviously. Taking the time to jimmy open all of the other lockers in the changing room, he had put together an outfit consisting of a clingy black crop top, black capri pants, and black sandals. He'd even swiped some hair gel and spiked his bangs. Heero looked it over and raised an eyebrow appreciatively.

Duo smirked. _Black is definitely my colour, in my body, or in anyone else's. _ They walked out into the late afternoon sun together for a leisurely stroll around the grounds.

As they made their way to the grand courtyard in front of the library, the crown jewel of the campus, Duo's eyes fixed on a figure in white, seated by the goldfish pond, reading quietly. Wufei was alone. There is a God. Breathing a sigh of relief, he wondered if he should run over and tell him that poor Duo was cracking under the pressure and not making much sense, and could he please ignore anything he says that sounds unbelievable.

Instantly, it was decided for him, as he saw his other "self" run around the corner of the library and make a beeline for Wufei, collapsing on one of the decorative rocks around the pond. Wufei looked up from his book with concern; he was talking to the visitor, but they were too far away for Duo to hear the conversation, or even to lip-read it. His mind worked feverishly on a plan to get through to Wufei before Relena did.

"Heero, would you mind meeting me a little later for dinner? I have to go take care of something."

"Iie..." He'd gotten too used to the good life, and now he wouldn't let go.

"Just for a little bit, huh?" Duo flashed his trademark smile. "Girl stuff. You wouldn't understand."

Heero rolled his eyes slightly, then relented. Duo turned and tried not to break into a run towards the goldfish pond, not wanting to arouse suspicion. As he got closer, he caught his breath when he saw Relena was already talking animatedly to Wufei. Suddenly, Wufei's head turned towards Duo...but instead of looking at him, he looked straight past and stared at Heero, who was still standing where Duo had left him.

Stopping halfway between them, the puzzled pilot looked back and forth at the others. Wufei had put his book down to look intensely at Heero, and he contorted his gaze as if to say "Well?" Heero looked at him for a moment with a slight scowl, then walked away. Relena began shaking Wufei's arm, trying to get his attention back, but he just stared after Heero with a look that said he was never more ready to start drinking in his life.

Duo steadied himself and walked toward them. _ Never mind, it's your word against hers. Just act natural._

He stopped in front of Wufei, clasped his hands the way he'd always seen Relena clasp them, and smiled.

Wufei's eyes widened beyond believable proportions. "...MAXWELL!?" He didn't want to believe what he was seeing.

Duo sighed heavily and slouched. "If this is going to be a long lecture, can you chop out the boring parts? I've kinda got a full social calendar tonight."

Setting his book down carefully on the rock, Wufei rose and walked a complete circle around Duo, examining him extensively. A slight flush overcame Duo's borrowed face as he thought of where his friend's eyes must be travelling. Coming to a halt squarely in front of the oddity, Wufei straightened his white jacket, folded his arms, and raised an eyebrow.

An uncomfortable silence followed. "...God, somebody say _something!_ Or at least quit lookin' at me like there's petunias growing out of my ears!" Duo whined.

"You see!?" Relena chimed in. "It's all about him! I don't matter, what Heero wants doesn't matter, nothing has any importance except this sick game of his!" Her tears were flowing freely now, and she unrolled her sleeve to sop them up. "This is a hundred times worse than being dead! I'm alive, but my own life isn't mine anymore!" She fell off the rock and onto the grass, sobbing uncontrollably.

Disgusted by her display, Wufei reached down and clutched her arm, dragging her to her feet. "Stand up straight, onna." he commanded quietly. His eyes were nothing short of blazing. "I do not care who you are underneath. Until this is sorted out, as far as the world knows, you are not a snivelling weakling, you are a Gundam pilot. Try to comport yourself with some dignity."

She looked shocked at first, but nodded, lowering her gaze away from his. He released her arm and barked out more orders. "Now go and clean yourself up while I discuss this with Maxwell. Now!" It was the first time all week she clearly knew what she was supposed to do, and she left grateful for it. As soon as she was gone, Wufei's glare switched to the strange Shinigami in capri pants.

"I know what you're going to say," Duo began, holding up his hands in surrender. "This is conduct unbecoming a pilot, it was a rotten, insensitive thing to do, I've been a very bad boy and you can all take turns spanking me until I've learned my lesson, ok? It won't change the fact that this is all your fault..." He lowered his head, half-expecting a smack in the face.

"MY fault!?" Wufei snarled.

"Yes, your fault! You sent me on that God-damn journey of self-discovery, you told me to find my inner voice and all that crap! Well, this is what my inner voice told me to do, so I was only following orders like a good little soldier. If you'd let me sit around and sulk like I wanted, me and Relena wouldn't be walking around dazed and confused like someone put our souls in a blender!"

Wufei paused. "That must not have been all it told you. It must have told you how." The eyebrow raised again.

"No..." Duo sighed and sat down on the rock vacated by his doppelganger, leaning his elbows on his knees. Wufei did the same, listening intently. "This thing in my head..." he said, tapping his temple, "...this God of Death...it's real. I've always felt it, but this is proof beyond what I ever hoped to find. When I was out there, alone...it spoke to me in ways...I couldn't understand. Then it loaded me up with all this knowledge and mysticism...scared the hell out of me, most of it. Then I came back, right away she comes crying to me about her and Heero, it was like she was handing him to me with a great big bow around his neck.....you know how I feel about him, Wu..."

"Golden opportunity, right?" Wufei's very presence, calm and logical, had a relaxing effect on Duo today.

"Yeah, but it keeps getting tarnished around the edges."

"Gold doesn't tarnish, you're thinking of silver."

"Whatever..." Duo didn't have the strength or the will to argue. "If it weren't for her, constantly..." he trailed off.

Sitting up a little straighter, Wufei looked carefully at Duo's hair. "Was it really necessary to dye it to make her look more like you? I thought the premise behind this was that Heero didn't want you that way."

Duo looked confused at first, then pulled his braid over his shoulder and looked at it. "This? I swear to God, Wu, I didn't do anything to Relena's hair. Not consciously, anyway..."

Again the eyebrow flew up. "Not consciously?"

"I noticed it a little yesterday, but I thought I was imagining things. Then today, it was like this; okay, I spiked the bangs a little, but that's all."

Wufei studied his face. "And your eyes?"

"I've kinda got a theory that explains that too. One of the things I learned was how to transmute matter. I can tinker with it a little, but I can't really do anything major..." To demonstrate, Duo plucked a tiger lily from the marshy area at the edge of the pond. He held it up for Wufei to examine it, and after a nod of affirmation from him that, yes, it was indeed a flower, he grasped it delicately by the stem and watched it intently. His face knit with concentration, and slowly, the stem began to liquefy and wobble, letting the head of the flower bob back and forth like a toy on a spring. A second later, the stem turned rigid and blanched to a sandy colour; the new substance spread up and down until the entire flower was a stiff, brown image of it's former self.

Duo handed the flower to Wufei, who turned it over in his hands, impressed. "Porcelain," he remarked, tapping the petals gently.

"I think that's what I've been doing to Relena's body, but I didn't do it on purpose."

"Did you tell Heero about this?"

"Oh, that reminds me, I simply must borrow her makeup and paint over the word 'idiot' on my forehead, 'cause obviously everybody can see it but me." Duo snorted. "Do you _think_ I'd tell him!?"

"Sorry." Wufei sorted through the scattered facts in his brain. "You two seemed...friendly, just now."

"Yeah, Heero's loosened up a lot since last nigh--" The sound caught in Duo's throat. Did he say that out loud?

Wufei turned in horror, shrinking away from Duo. "You_ didn't._" He took his silence as an admission of guilt. "...you did. Oh, hell..." He sank his head into one hand, feeling a migraine coming on. "I should have gotten through to him...I should have pushed him into listening to me..."

This time it was Duo's turn to look shocked. "Pushed who into listening to you? Shit, you weren't talking to Heero about this, were you!? How could you have known--"

"Remember the fight in the hall? I knew something wasn't right. It wasn't JUST the fight either...when I looked at you...at Relena...I felt something like..." The Chinese pilot struggled for words, a rare sight. "...like your _chi_ was out of place. The sight of you and how your presence felt, even at a distance, was out of sync." These words worried Duo immensely. Quatre could be at least as sensitive to the supernatural as Wufei was on his best day, and he'd seen both him and Trowa yesterday. They might both know by now...

Wufei looked up, finally. "I saw you shortly afterwards, or what I thought was you. It makes sense now to assume it was Relena; she was entering the nurse's office, and when I called your name, she ignored it. You looked like hell, too," he added, with a tiny smirk. "I felt the same sense of unbalance looking at her as I did looking at you. Then I went to Heero; I found him in your dorm room. He had just received a mission and was on his way to look for you when I stopped him and began telling him that something was wrong with the pair of you..." His eyes darkened and he looked down at the grass. "But...he cut me off before I'd barely begun, and he seemed angry that I even spoke your names together. He just...didn't want to hear it."

Duo froze. "So...he doesn't know?"

Wufei shook his head. "I don't see how he could." He looked up at his friend. "You know now that this is why I stayed behind during the mission to wait for you...I wanted to see if the change was permanent. As soon as you arrived, I felt your _chi_ and your body were in harmony again, otherwise I would not have allowed you to pilot Deathscythe."

"Nice to know someone's lookin' out for us," Duo said, smiling.

"If you don't sort this out soon, you're on your own."

"Used to it, don't mind at all."

"Lucky Heero gets to console you in your hour of need."

"You gettin' fresh with me, cutie?"

"Shut up, Maxwell."

**********  


Heero sat typing away, oblivious to all but the footsteps that began down the hall, and grew louder and closer, the thin dorm walls doing little to muffle the sound. When the knock came at the door, he knew who it was without having to look. He turned off his laptop and closed it, rose from his chair, and opened the door for the visitor in black. 

  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
=0_0= He can't keep up this charade much longer...can he? 


	11. Requiem

It all comes down to this... =*_*=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Talking to Wufei had settled Duo's nerves considerably, overall. Leaving him to his precious book and pond, after promising to at least try to set things right before they got out of hand, he went to find Heero. His friend's good advice poisoned his good mood once it had a chance to sink in, however. _End it now, Maxwell, before anyone gets hurt worse than they already have. _Sadness washed over him, making the walk to the dorm seem ten times as long as it really was. The last 24 hours with Heero had been absolutely beautiful, and he dreaded the thought of letting the fairy tale end. He knew it would, once he had his old body back.

Sadness turned to confusion, and then utter frustration._ This would all have been so EASY if Heero could ignore the container and concentrate on the soul! If he goes wild over this body...there's no way we can ever be together if I go back. And if I stay..._ He paused at the double doors leading to the hallway. Their hallway. _...if I stay, he'll never know he's with me._

One hand on the door handle, one hand on his heart. Stay this way, or put things right? Choose passion, or choose truth? His mind reeled with the sensations they had shared the night before, the warmth of his lover's body pressed against him, the sound of his ragged breathing and delicate whispers, the intoxicating scent of his soft black hair, the luxurious feel of skin on skin...

These moments of pure joy, of being wrapped in his koi's arms, were among the happiest in his life, and now he was about to give them up, toss them all aside for the sake of his damn stupid sense of morality. Fate was a bitch sometimes.

_Go on, have a good long wail, _he told himself. _Girls are allowed to cry._

The sound of shouting down the hall broke his reverie, and he quickly crouched below the window of the double doors, peeking over the edge like any good spy would. Another shout. It was his voice! His stomach churned at the thought that Relena was in there, giving Heero what-for. No, she wasn't that stupid, she'd more likely be purposely acting like a jerk to make sure that, even after their bodies were switched back, Heero would hate Duo's guts forever and ever, amen.

Heero's door was slammed open with a crash, and a crouching figure in black ran out and threw itself against the opposite wall, shivering badly. Duo watched in terror at the twisted expression on his own face only a few yards away. Relena threw her back against the wall and stared into the dorm room; from the angle it was impossible to tell what she was looking at, but odds-on it was Heero. With one last horrid convulsion, she clutched her face and bolted for the door--the one Duo was crouching behind. He flung himself to the side at the last second, as the double doors were thrown open, and the hysterical Relena took off into the night.

She never noticed "herself" nearly land in the hedge trying to avoid the swinging doors. Before Duo could call out to her, or react in any way at all, she was using his thin but powerful legs to practically fly across the grounds. Only a few seconds later, she was gone. Duo picked himself up out of the hedge and stared across the horizon for awhile. Night had fallen, and tracking a person dressed entirely in black at that time of night was tricky at best, without the aid of heat-seeking goggles.

Forgetting her for the moment, he ran inside and stopped outside Heero's door, almost afraid of what he'd find.

"...Heero?" He took a cautious step over the thresh hold. Heero was sitting at his desk, looking away from his closed computer. His gun was sitting on the desk.

Duo sat on his bed and watched him for the longest time. He'd never seen his Perfect Soldier like this; his face was covered in anger and regrets. It was nearly an hour before he could bring himself to speak.

"I've just said something I probably shouldn't have."

**********  


_Run. Get out. As far away as you can. Don't ever stop running because this nightmare is going to be on your heels for all eternity. You heard every word he said, he didn't tell you to go, but what's the use of staying now? Just run. Run._

Around this corner and that, down one hill, up another. Parking lot. Bike. Keys. Pocket. Run.

**********  


"What was it? What did you say?"

Heero looked up with mournful eyes. "If...if something happens...I have no right to ask your forgiveness..."

"For what? Nothing's happened, nothing's going to happen, so just cool it, ok? What's this all about?"

He shook his head. "Not for what will happen...but...for not wanting to stop it from happening." And with that, he fell silent.

**********  


_Faster. You're not moving quick enough. You're not running far enough. Faster!_ The lights along the highway flew past, accelerating until they were solid bands of liquid fire. The direction didn't matter, only the speed. Vehicles less nimble than the motorcycle swerved and jerked back and forth trying to miss the bike as it weaved erratically through the traffic. They didn't even have enough time to roll down their windows and shout obscenities at the driver.

Rain began to fall.

_I can feel him getting farther away...oh God, I don't want to leave him...I just wanted him to love me! _The driver took a wrong turn off the highway and down the city streets. Horns blared and people on the sidewalk shrieked at the sound, at the blur that was tearing through the fabric of night at a horrendous speed. _Help me, Heero, please! I don't know what to do!_

Around the corner on one wheel. People shouting. Tires squealing. Wet ground. Cold air. Truck.

Impact.

**********  


The early show let out at 9:15pm. A massive rush of people surged through the theatre lobby, chattering about the movie and spilling popcorn everywhere. Among the happy patrons who were out of popcorn and heading for home were Trowa and Quatre. They'd been spending an awful lot of time at these antique movie theatres, but thanks to a wave of nostalgia, so was the entire city. They used to have the back row all to themselves, and now it was getting crowded.

Laughing and joking about having to find new hide-aways, they made their way through the mob to the front door. When they were less than ten feet from the exit, there was a faint crashing noise outside, followed by raised voices. Quatre's eyes went wide, and he clutched at his chest, leaning heavily on his friend's arm.

"Quatre! Are you alright?" Frightened for his 'little one', Trowa helped him to a red plush bench near the window. "Talk to me, please! What's wrong?"

The blond boy shivered violently, then brushed the hair out of his eyes. "I don't...oh, Trowa...something terrible's happened...out there..." He placed a hand against the window and looked out into the street. Traffic was moving, but people were running back and forth in a panic. "Take me outside, now!"

Trowa helped him up and parted the crowd effectively; sirens were heard in the distance, growing closer. The reason for the ruckus was obvious now; down the street a hundred yards or so, there was a collection of stopped vehicles and a crowd of worried onlookers. "Looks like a traffic accident," Trowa remarked plainly.

"No, it's...it's worse..." Finding sudden strength, Quatre straightened up and jogged towards the scene. He pushed past the crowd until Trowa could no longer see him. Reaching the front of the pack he saw two cars jammed together; the second had obviously T-boned the first when the first slammed on it's brakes. There was a tanker truck with "WATER" printed on the side, and a massive dent in the front grill. In the middle of the mess was a badly-mangled motorcycle, and lying next to it, unconscious and bleeding, was the driver..."DUO!!"

At that shout, Trowa pushed his way through and choked in horror at the sight of Duo Maxwell lying on the pavement, being cradled by his sobbing angel. The rain was doing little to wash away the blood pouring from an open head wound, and the broken bones sticking through his priest's clothes made Trowa fall to his knees with a wave of nausea. The sirens overpowered the sound of Quatre's weeping, as an ambulance screeched to a halt and it's workers flooded the area. Duo's broken body was lifted onto a gurney, with paramedics shining lights in his dull purple eyes and shouting his name in both ears. Trowa asked, pleaded, and then finally threatened them into allowing both himself and Quatre to ride with him to the hospital, against regulations.

One of the medics, a short, motherly woman who looked at the young victim with genuine sadness, moved to place an oxygen mask over his face. The other medic put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Lemmie get this off first," he said, reaching around the back of Duo's neck. He was looking for the clasp of the golden chain that held Duo's cross, his beloved memento of the Maxwell Church.

Trowa grabbed the man's hands and gently pulled them away, fighting back tears of his own. "Leave it on him."

The medic hesitated, then nodded, and let the woman slip the mask in place.

As they pulled away, the authorities were taking statements and filling out accident reports. A tall, sandy-haired officer took off his hat and stared at the pile of twisted metal that had once been a motorcycle; he had a son about Duo's age, a son looking forward to becoming a licenced driver. A son who liked bikes. The officer turned and spoke solemnly to his partner. "Dumbass kid wasn't wearing a helmet."

**********  


Heero said nothing from the time he spoke of unworthy forgiveness right up until the call came. It was as if he had been waiting for it. There was an injured pilot in the hospital, the nurse said, but she didn't have the boy's name, and could they please hurry because time was growing short for the victim.

Not a word was spoken between them during the taxi ride to the emergency room. They flew past the admissions desk and into the critical care unit, where they found Quatre and Trowa, sitting against the wall and looking stricken. Quatre had obviously been crying, and Trowa had his arms around the boy, rubbing his shoulder and talking softly to him. Across the hall from them was a room with a huge window, from which relatives could watch their loved ones without getting in the way of the doctors. The room was filled with various holy Catholic fathers, whom the hospital had called from local churches when they saw the young man had been dressed in priestly garb. They gathered around and prayed over him, but none recognized the boy as belonging to any of their orders. As they dispersed, Heero walked up to the window and saw the object of their confusion.

The body of Duo Maxwell lay on the gurney inside, bandaged and splinted in ten different places, with all manner of wires and tubes attaching it to various life-support machines. Heero leaned his head against the glass and just stood there.

A moment later, the doors at the far opposite end of the hall crashed open, and Wufei came running down to meet them. He skidded to a halt behind Heero and looked through the glass at "Duo." Then he turned slowly to look at the other "Duo" with an expression somewhere in between infuriated and relieved.

The real Duo was frozen in place; since Wufei was still alive and well, and the other three pilots were in plain view, that only left one--himself. Trancelike, he stood motionless in the middle of the hallway, while interns and residents bustled around, talking in muted tones and passing x-rays between them._ My x-rays...of my broken bones..._

Wufei was suddenly in front of him. "Maxwell..." he whispered.

"...is she dead?"

"No, but it doesn't look good. I spoke to a police officer outside...she stole your motorcycle out of the student parking lot and went for a joyride down the highway."

Duo cringed. "Oh, no...no..." His voice wavered, on the brink of crying.

"Then she swerved back into town and hit a tanker truck. The streets were slippery from the rain, and she'd never ridden a bike by herself in those conditions before...Duo, the damage is extensive."

Without so much as blinking at Wufei's use of his first name, he started babbling in whispers. "It's my fault she's here, it was my bike, my body, my stupid idea, what the hell was I thinking, what am I doing with powers like these if I can't control th--"

"_Silence,_" Wufei hissed, taking hold of his arm roughly. He felt eyes on the back of his neck and turned to see Trowa staring at him as if he'd gone mad. He let go of Duo's arm instantly. "What's done is done. Now our problem is how to keep your body from dying while Relena is still inside. If you are really the God of Death who you claim to be, surely you learned something that applies to this situation...anything that will keep her alive long enough to--" He was cut short by an electronic alarm coming from inside Relena's ward. Nurses flooded in, followed by doctors with clipboards.

Trowa and Wufei leapt to the window; the patient's condition was worsening. Quatre remained on the floor, trembling, until Duo began slowly walking closer, eyes fixed on the window. Looking up at "Relena," a strange twinge hit Quatre in the chest, and he felt compelled to stare at the face, the clothes, the braid...

More alarms sounded. One by one, the systems in Duo's body were shutting down. They were confined to the hallway, as at least a dozen specialists were now crowding the tiny ward and wouldn't allow anyone else inside; Duo wished for all the world that he could stand next to himself, to do something, anything...but this time, there was no whispering from the back of his mind, telling him what to do. Shinigami was silent.

Duo felt movement around him; the other pilots were shouting all at once, banging on the window, trying to force the door open, all for different reasons. All except Heero. He stood like a stone obelisk, cold and unshakeable, until finally all the furiously beeping alarms coalesced into a single, pure tone...and then he looked away. Relena had flatlined.

The unwavering sound of the equipment cut through the air and stabbed each of them in the heart. When the head surgeon mercifully shut off the heart monitor and shook his head, it began to sink in..._I've just died...but...I'm still really here._ The most important lesson Shinigami ever taught him had just become apparent to Duo--he could cheat death and win. The specialists dutifully made note of the time of death, and pulled the sheet over the young boy's head, some saying a silent prayer for his soul.

_I'm not dead...I'm NOT DEAD. _ He could hear Quatre crying again, and he was looking back and forth between Relena's black-clad body and the corpse in the next room. Quatre knew he was supposed to be mourning, that this was the completion of someone's life, but the feeling that something still wasn't right disturbed him worse than watching his friend die.

Heero turned to face Duo at last. His eyes said there was cloud of guilt hanging over his head, but that it would soon pass. _I've seen that look on his face dozens of times,_ Duo thought, _so why does it only scare me now??_

"Miss Maxwell?" said a pretty, young nurse who emerged from the ward.

"Wh-what?" Duo stammered.

"I'm terribly sorry, we did everything we could," she said reassuringly. At Duo's puzzled expression, she blushed. "You are his sister, aren't you? I just thought...well, you two look so much alike...it seemed obvious."

"......huh........yeah, that's me." The words were acid in his mouth.

"Well, this belongs to you, then." She took his hands and placed something cold in them, closing them tightly. "I'm very, very sorry." And with that, she and her clipboard vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

Duo opened his hands to look at the object...his inheritance. It was his cross. He shut his hands over it as tears began stinging his eyes. There was no going back now, since his old body was dead. He would be trapped in the body of Relena Peacecraft for all eternity, or until he found another victim. _ This must be the secret of being the God of Death...when others die, it gives me life. _ Heero took a step forward, as if anxious to say something.

Looking over his shoulder at the two pilots who knew nothing about this escapade, Heero spoke gently to Wufei. "Tell them." Wufei looked shocked for a moment, but understood what was required of him, and took Quatre and Trowa aside.

Duo was trembling now, tears spilling down his cheeks. "Heero...I...I never meant...for her to die..."

"I know." No two words of his ever had such an effect on Duo. _ He...knows? He can't...no... _ Heero reached out for Duo's cross and took it from him. "But I meant for her to die. It's my own shame that it came at such a great sacrifice to you."

A few yards away, Wufei had finished his quiet explanation. Trowa and Quatre were staring at the female version of Duo Maxwell with mouths gaping. The three of them took tiny steps towards "him" in a state of utter shock.

Duo wiped his eyes and gazed up at his Perfect Soldier. "I thought...when we were together...all you saw was her..."

A precious sight rewarded him for his belated honesty; Heero smiled and placed the golden chain with the cross around his lover's swan-like neck. "Baka..." he whispered, pulling him close and breathing into his soft hair. "Your soul follows mine everywhere. It will always be the most beautiful thing about you, no matter what you look like. I only hope you can forgive me for being so shallow...for not recognizing that sooner."

The braided pilot threw his arms around Heero and cried openly. "Oh God.....Heero...." he choked.

"Ai shiteru, Duo. Forgive me."

Time stood still as they embraced, while the other pilots circled around them, put their arms around them both, and revelled in the joy they felt knowing their friend was still alive. They understood that Relena was gone, and that someone would have to account for her soul's departure, but at that moment, nothing mattered except being together, five strong souls merged into one.

As they left quietly by the back door, Duo was only faintly aware of voices, Wufei's and Quatre's, speaking back and forth in excited whispers, trading questions and partial answers. Heero had slipped an arm around his waist as they walked out together, and leaning his head against the taller boy's shoulder, Duo's guilt was slowly replaced by relief and contentment.

_...guess I'm not quite myself anymore...but I do have Heero...hey, it's not ALL bad..._

  
  
~owari~   
~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Mitsugi: =@_@= What have I done? I took one of the most gorgeous guys in all of anime and turned him into a girl!

Duo: Don't panic, it's just a story! Look, see? *poses* I'm the same as I always was!

Mitsugi: That's a relief.

Duo: *starts laughing hysterically*

Heero: *yanks Duo's braid* What are you so happy for?

Duo: Don't you get it, Hee-chan? The ONE mission you could NEVER complete...she gives to me and I take care of it in four days! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!

Heero: *sweatdrop* Did not. Like you said, it's just a story.

Mitsugi: A good one, I hope. =^_~= Well, what do you think, minna? Am I worthy of this wonderful website?


End file.
